China's national weather forecaster warned Saturday that tropical storm Malou was on course to strike the country's east coast just as Lionrock was abating.

The National Meteological Center (NMC) cancelled the typhoon warning for Lionrock, as it was downgraded to a tropical low pressure front in southern Guangdong Province Friday. It would continue to abate as it moves west at a speed of 10 kilometers an hour.

However, heavy winds and torrential rains would continue along the southern coast and parts of central China, as the impacts of the southwest monsoon and the cold front as well as Lionrock merge.

The NMC said Malou, this year's ninth tropical storm, was heading northwest at a speed of 20 kilometers an hour, and would enter the East China Sea Saturday afternoon. It would then move towards China's east coast, bringing gales.