Eleven people are missing after their fishing boat hit a rock near Dongji Isle off the coast of Taizhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Monday morning.

The city's maritime affairs authority said it had sent two professional rescue vessels after it received a signal from the boat for help around 1 a.m., while requesting civilian ships in the vicinity to help search for the boat.

Rescuers had not found the boat by 9 a.m., and suspected it could have sunk.