Tropical storm Nanmadol is headed for China, after it drenched southern and eastern Taiwan and prompted evacuations and major travel disruptions.

In China, vice-prime minister Hui Liangyu ordered local governments to take steps to limit damage from the storm that has lost strength since pummelling Taiwan.

The storm is expected to hit Fujian province sometime during the day on Tuesday, the China Meteorological Administration said on its website.

Storm tracking service Tropical Storm Risk currently rates Nanmadol as a tropical storm, and sees it weakening further to a tropical depression over the next 48 hours.

The storm, downgraded from a typhoon on Monday, was the first of the season to land in Taiwan.

By 06:00 GMT, its centre had passed over Taiwan and was heading for southern China.

Philippines battered

Taiwan's central weather bureau maintained a heavy rain and strong wind warning for the island, forecasting rainfall in excess of 350mm in a 24-hour period in the northeast, east and southeast.

Businesses in Taiwan's south and east were ordered closed on Monday, but those in the capital, Taipei, and Taiwan's financial markets were open as normal.

Schools were closed across the island and rail services and domestic and international flights disrupted. Some 31,400 households in the south and east had lost power, the National Fire Agency said.

Nanmadol hit the northern Philippines late last week, killing 16 people and injuring 21, the country's national disaster council said on Monday.

Around 5,400 people were being housed in evacuation centres.