Weakened typhoon hits China after 6 die in Taiwan

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Kalmaegi slammed into China's southeastern coast on Friday, after killing six people in neighboring Taiwan.

The weakening storm made landfall in Xiapu county in Fujian province at 6:10 p.m. (1010 GMT), bringing winds of up to 90 kph (55 mph) the official Xinhua news agency said.

Some 360,000 people in Fujian and the neighboring province of Zhejiang have been evacuated and more than 51,000 fishing vessels called back to harbor prior to the storm's landing, Xinhua said.

Kalmaegi, a Korean word meaning seagull, was also expected to affect the country's financial hub Shanghai on Friday and Saturday, it said.

State television said it would then move northwest and further inland over China.

Six people were also injured when Kalmaegi swept over northeast Taiwan late on Thursday and early on Friday. It has been downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm since.

Kalmaegi, the first typhoon to hit Taiwan this year, was relatively mild, causing minor flooding and crop damage, but still prompting government authorities to issue sea warnings for the areas around the island.

The storm resulted in T$86.93 million ($2.9 million) worth of crop damage, and T$20 million in damage to livestock, according to government statistics. It has also led to several flight delays and cancellations.

Evening classes were cancelled on parts of the island on Thursday night as the storm approached, but all businesses and schools were open as usual on Friday.

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

(Reporting by Guo Shipeng in Beijing; Additional reporting by Doug Young in Taipei; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Alex Richardson)