More than 20,000 people were evacuated from their homes and 50,000 vessels ordered to return to shore in southeastern China's Fujian province as tropical storm Pabuk neared after lashing Taiwan, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Pabuk was expected to make landfall late on Wednesday between Fujian and Guangdong provinces, with tropical storm Wutip not far behind, the China Meteorological Agency said.

The administration warned residents in the densely populated provinces of the possibility of landslides and flooding, and advised them to stay indoors.

Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces also issued circulars urging officials to prepare for Pabuk, which is expected to sweep those areas from late Wednesday through to Thursday afternoon, the agency said.

In the southern territory of Hong Kong, a cyclone warning was issued due to Pabuk, with fishermen urged to quickly seek shelter.

Pabuk had already pounded southern Taiwan with strong winds and downpours on Wednesday, disrupting traffic and power supply, but not causing any deaths.

Packing winds of 65 kiometres (40 miles) an hour, Wutip was fast approaching Taiwan on Wednesday and was then expected to follow a similar path to Pabuk.

Wutip was expected to strike China's southern coastline by Friday afternoon, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, other parts of China were also enduring brutal weather.

Recent flooding in northwest Shaanxi province claimed 17 lives and left 33 others missing, Xinhua reported.

The rainstorms caused landslides, mud-rock flows and flooding in seven rivers, affecting 175,000 people, it said.

The latest deaths continue a devastating run of weather for China, with the Ministry of Civil Affairs reporting that natural disasters had left 712 people dead and 163 missing in July.

In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said the tumultuous floods, landslides and drought across China in July were "far worse than last year".

The death toll from natural disasters in the vast country in the first seven months of this year was 1,279, with another 239 missing, according to the ministry.

Disasters of various kinds have affected 280 million people -- or more than one in every five Chinese -- and made 6.15 million homeless, it said, adding that material damage was estimated at 110 billion yuan (14.5 billion dollars).