China renews blue alert for Typhoon Kong-rey

BEIJING - China's national observatory on Friday morning renewed a blue alert for Typhoon Kong-rey, which is expected to bring heavy wind to southern parts of China.

The eye of Kong-rey, this year's 25th typhoon, was located in the Pacific Ocean about 215 km northwest of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, as of 5 am Friday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said. It will continue to move north at a speed of 25 km per hour and decrease in strength on Saturday morning, the NMC said.

Regions including Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Taiwan will be hit by gales on Friday and Saturday under the influence of Kong-rey and cold air. China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.