The second deadly typhoon in one week battered southern China, killing two people.

Heavy rain and strong winds have disrupted shipping and flights in Guangdong and Hainan provinces.

Typhoon Chanthu was upgraded from a tropical storm after gathering strength over the South China Sea.

It hit the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong Province, close to the northeastern tip of the resort island province of Hainan on Thursday afternoon.

According to state-run media, more than one million people were affected by the weather in Guangdong.

Shipping between Hainan and the mainland had already been suspended and dozens of flights canceled. More than 26,000 fishing boats are also taking shelter in Hainan ports.

At least 701 people have died since the start of the year as a result of torrential rains which have swept through large areas of southern and central China.

The scale of the devastation, with more rain forecast, has raised fears of another mass disaster on the scale of the 1998 Yangtze River floods, when more than 4,000 people died.