Tens of thousands of residents were being evacuated from coastal Vietnam on Monday, as Typhoon Kajiki barrelled towards landfall expected to lash the country's central belt with gales of around 160 kmh.

Vietnam announced plans to evacuate more than half a million people and ordered boats to stay ashore, while the southern Chinese city of Sanya closed businesses and public transport on Sunday as both braced for an intensifying Typhoon Kajiki.

Typhoon Kajiki has brought strong winds and heavy rain to southern China's Hainan island and parts of Guangdong province. On Sunday, the storm passed over open waters, heading toward Vietnam's