China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Saturday issued an orange alert, the second highest in its four-tier warning system, for Typhoon Matmo, which is expected to land in the country’s southern coastal areas, bringing strong winds and heavy rains to Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi.
Matmo, the 21st typhoon of the year, was observed at 18 degrees north latitude and 117.7 degrees east longitude at 05:00 on Saturday -- about 660 kilometers east-southeast of China's coast, moving northwestward at a speed of 25-30 km per hour, according to the NMC.
Forecasts indicate it will make landfall along coastal areas ranging from Dianbai in Guangdong Province to Wanning in Hainan Province during the daytime on Sunday, it said.
Guangdong has issued a level-II emergency response to winds, and all fishing boats operating in the waters west of the Pearl River Estuary have returned to port to take shelter.
Hainan has issued a level-III emergency response to winds and floods.
Haikou, the provincial capital of the province has planned to carry out a gradual citywide suspension of classes, work, transportation, flights, park operations and business operations from Saturday afternoon to Sunday.
All inbound and outbound flights at Haikou Meilan International Airport are expected to be cancelled from 23:00 Saturday.
RoPax ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait are set to be suspended from 16:00 Saturday.
China has a four-tier emergency response system, with level-I being the most severe response, and a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
China issues orange alert for Typhoon Matmo
Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.
Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.
Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.
"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.
"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.
A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.
"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.
"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.
The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections.
The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
