The category three storm is expected to blanket the island before moving on towards Japan [AFP]

Offices and schools were closed and domestic flights cancelled after winds of more than 200kph battered Taipei, the capital, on Saturday.

One person was reported injured.

The category three storm is expected to blanket the island and may gather strength before moving on towards Japan, news agency and weather reports said.

Sinlaku was also expected to make landfall across the Taiwan Strait in eastern China on Sunday morning, battering the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang with heavy and torrential rains, the Xinhua news agency said.

Storm warnings

Government and weather bureau officials have advised people to stay away from beaches and mudslide-prone mountains and beware of flying debris.

Sinlaku is the fourth typhoon to hit Taiwan this year, the weather bureau said.

Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 20 people in July and caused extensive flooding, landslides and crop damage in the south and central part of the island.

Typhoons regularly reach China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan from August until the end of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific or the South China Sea before weakening over land.

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