At least 18 people were killed on Saturday after Typhoon Lekima struck China's coast south of Shanghai, knocking down houses and trees, state TV reported.

Another 14 people were missing after Lekima hit land on Saturday in Zhejiang province, the report said.

More than 200 houses collapsed and 3,200 were damaged.

The deaths occurred in Yongjia County on the outskirts of Wenzhou, a major port city, state TV reported.

It said a river that was blocked by a landslide rose 10 metres and then broke through the debris, flooding homes.

A man rides an electric scooter in the rainstorm as Typhoon Lekima begins to make landfall in Shanghai on Saturday. (Aly Song/Reuters )

More than one million people were moved to safety before the storm struck, the official Xinhua News Agency said. That included 253,000 in Shanghai. Shanghai Disneyland closed due to the storm.

State TV said 3,023 airline flights in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other cities and some train services were cancelled.

Authorities in Shanghai also shut down the high-speed magnetic levitation train to Pudong International Airport.