The powerful storm made landfall around 2:50 pm (0650 GMT) in Guangdong province, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The National Meteorological Centre recorded winds of more than 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).

As the storm approached, authorities evacuated 197,000 people from their homes on Hainan Island and 150,000 from Guangdong province, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Public transportation, construction sites and businesses were also shuttered in coastal cities including Haikou, Wenchang, Zhanjiang and Maoming.

The city of Beihai in the south of Guangxi region also announced Sunday it would suspend work, classes and transportation.

The storm had already caused sea levels to rise in a port in Maoming on Sunday morning, leading to a "serious" risk of flooding, according to CCTV.

The intensity of the typhoon is expected to gradually decrease after making landfall, the meteorological centre said.

But torrential rain and strong winds were expected until Monday in Hainan and parts of Guangdong and Guangxi.

China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say are accelerating climate change and making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.

It is also a world leader in renewable energy and aims to be carbon neutral by 2060.