Typhoon Fengshen, the sixth to hit China this year, is likely to slam into the mainland on Wednesday, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Tuesday.

Fengshen, which means "god of wind" in Chinese, was expected to make landfall near the southern coast of Fujian Province and the eastern coast of Guangdong Province, or move northeast to traverse the Taiwan Straits, said the headquarters.

As of 10:00 AM on Tuesday, Fengshen was 380 km at sea southwest of Guangdong, with winds of 28 meters per second at its eye, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

It was moving north at 15-20 km per hour, said the NMC.

Fengshen was expected to bring gales and torrential rain to eastern Guangdong, southern Fujian and the southern and western regions of Taiwan, the NMC said.

At a television conference held on Monday night, the deputy director of the headquarters and Water Resources Minister Chen Lei urged all relevant units to avoid injuries and death when Fengshen hit China.

A ferry en route from Manila to Cebu in the Philippines sank during Fengshen's passage across the country. As of Tuesday afternoon, 48 people out of the 862 on board were confirmed to have survived, while 67 were known dead.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2008)