China's commercial hub of Shanghai is rushing to relocate people in order to avoid risks presented by the approaching severe typhoon Haikui, authorities with the municipal flood control headquarters said Tuesday.

It is estimated that over 200,000 people threatened by typhoon Haikui will be relocated before 9 p.m. Tuesday night, said Zhang Zhenyu, deputy director of the headquarters.

Those living in temporary housing at construction sites, makeshift housing and seawall regions will be moved to school buildings, stadiums and other shelters, he said.

Due to the uncertainty of the typhoon, we will relocate all people facing possible risks, said Zhang. "It is with respect to each life."

Haikui will be the third typhoon to wallop China's eastern coast in a week, after storms Saola and Damrey hit the region over the weekend.

According to the latest forecast, Haikui is expected to make landfall late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning near the Sanmenwan Gulf of Zhejiang Province.

The Shanghai municipal government issued an emergency notice at 3 p.m. Tuesday to stop all group outdoor activities starting from 9 p.m. Tuesday night to ensure people's safety and reduce possible losses.

All companies and institutions that are unrelated to people's livelihoods and city operations should arrange holiday or days off, said the notice.

From 9 p.m. Tuesday until the orange alert against the typhoon is cleared, all classes and outdoor construction work must be stopped and all parks and tourism attractions should be closed, the notice added.

The city's observatory also strengthened its alert against the typhoon to orange, the second-most severe alert in the country's four-tier color-coded weather warning system, followed by yellow and blue.

The storm's center was located 270 km southeast of Xiangshan County as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, and it was moving northwest at a speed of 10 km per hour, said the provincial observatory of east China's Zhejiang Province.

Haikui is expected to remain in Zhejiang's coastal areas and the nearby city of Shanghai after making landfall, the observatory said.

The state flood control and drought relief headquarters lifted the emergency response to the typhoon and flooding to Level II, the second-highest level in the country's four-tier emergency response system.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2012)