BEIJING - China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) Saturday continued to issue a blue alert for Talim, the region's 18th typhoon this year.

At 5 pm Saturday, the eye of Talim was above the northwestern Pacific Ocean, 540 km east of Xiangshan in east Zhejiang Province, packing winds up to 35 meters per second.

The NMC forecast that Talim would move northeastward at a speed of 20 km per hour to Japan.

It said that Talim would weakened when landing in west coast of Japan between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

From Saturday evening to Sunday evening, Talim will bring gales and rainstorms to coastal regions of Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang.

The NMC suggested local governments take precautions against possible disasters, and ships in affected areas return to port.

Affected by Talim, more than 200,000 people in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces have been evacuated as of Wednesday.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.