A powerful typhoon left at least 28 people dead in China, after a landslide backed up a river that broke through debris and inundated homes, state media reported on Sunday.

Another 20 people remained missing, the official Xinhua News Agency said, and more than a million people were evacuated, state broadcaster CCTV has reported.

Typhoon Lekima made landfall early on Saturday in the eastern province of Zhejiang with maximum winds of 116mph (187km/h), although it had weakened from its earlier designation as a super typhoon, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The deaths occurred in Yongjia county on the outskirts of Wenzhou, a major port city. The river blocked by a landslide rose to a level of 10m (30ft) within 10 minutes, trapping 120 villagers, Xinhua said.

Thousands of flights were cancelled in eastern China, according to the country's aviation regulator, with most flights into and out of Shanghai's two main airports called off on Saturday afternoon, their websites showed.

China's weather bureau on Saturday issued an orange alert - its second highest - after posting a red alert on Friday, when the storm forced flight cancellations in Taiwan and shut markets and businesses on the island.

The deadly landslide occurred about 80 miles (129km) north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, when a natural dam collapsed in an area deluged with 160mm (6.3 in) of rain within three hours, CCTV reported.

The storm was moving northward at 9mph (15km/h) and was gradually weakening, Xinhua reported, citing the weather bureau. High winds and heavy rains battered the financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, and Shanghai Disneyland was shut for the day.

Nearly 200 hundred trains through the city of Jinan in Shandong province had been suspended until Monday, Xinhua reported.

More than 250,000 residents in Shanghai and 800,000 in Zhejiang province had been evacuated due to the typhoon, and 2.72m households in Zhejiang had power blackouts as strong wind and rain downed electricity transmission lines, state media reported.

About 200 houses in six cities in Zhejiang had collapsed, and 66,300ha (163,830 acres) of farmland had been destroyed, CCTV said.

The storm was predicted to reach Jiangsu province by early Sunday and veer over the Yellow Sea before continuing north and making landfall again in Shandong province, CCTV said.

Coastal businesses in Zhejiang were shut and the emergency management ministy warned of potential risk of fire, explosions and toxic gas leaks at chemical parks and oil refineries.

Lekima, downgraded to a tropical storm, was heading slowly north along China's east coast on Sunday morning.