China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert over southern China at 6 a.m. Monday local time, as Typhoon Kalmaegi approaches from the South China Sea.

The alert follows a four-tiered color-coded warning system for severe weather conditions, with red for the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

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To address the typhoon Kalmaegi, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) launched Level Ⅱ emergency response in 8:00 a.m. of Sep.15.

This year's 15^th typhoon landed Sunday night on Luzon Island in the Philippines, then entered into northeastern South China Sea Monday morning.  At 5 a.m. local time, Kalmaegi was over sea areas, about 975 kilometers southeast of Leizhou in Guangdong, with winds at a scale of 12 on the Beaufort scale (118 kph) and 970 hPa air pressure.

The typhoon is forecast to move northwest at 30 kph, approaching western Guangdong and eastern Hainan with gaining intensity. Kalmaegi is expected to hit land between Yangjiang in Guangdong, and Wanning in Hainan at severe typhoon intensity - 45 to 50 meters per second - by Tuesday, Sep.16.

Kalmaegi will affect the southern and southeastern coast from Sunday evening to Monday evening, said the NMC.

The observatory also forecast parts of the east region of northwest China, Sichuan Province, Chongqing Municipality, and north China are likely to experience medium to heavy rain.

The CMA, according to the forecast, requires related inner bodies and institutions to impose a state of emergency immediately. The meteorological bureaus in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi have been advised to prepare for emergency response and provide the public and other government agencies with accurate and timely weather information.