China on orange alert for gales from typhoon

China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Thursday issued an orange warning, the second-highest alert, for strong winds on sea waters brought by super typhoon Jelawat.

Jelawat, the 17th super typhoon of the year, will bring gales to sea waters east of Taiwan, northeast waters of the South China Seaand central and southern waters of the East China Sea, the NMC said.

The center of Jelawat was located at about 460 km southeast of the city of Hualien in Taiwan at 5 p.m. on Thursday, and will move northwest at 10 to 15 km per hour, according to the center.

The NMC warned ships and people on affected waters to return to harbor and urged authorities to take full precautions.

China has a four-color warning system for strong winds, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.