BEIJING, CHINA - CHINA evacuated 360,000 people and called 61,000 fishing boats back to shore as it braced for Tropical Storm Kalmaegi, which killed at least six people in Taiwan, state media reported on Friday.

The eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang were expected to be hit late on Friday, the official Xinhua news agency said, quoting provincial flood control authorities.

Kalmaegi, which had been a typhoon, had weakened to a severe tropical storm, Xinhua said, but was still packing winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour.