China's meteorological authorities said on Saturday that strong rain will pelt the country's coastal regions while scorching heat is expected to linger in the southern regions over the next three days.

Muifa, the ninth typhoon to hit China this year, was located about 525 km southeast of Zhejiang's city of Zhoushan at 5 a.m. Saturday, packing winds of up to 45 meters per second, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on its website.

The typhoon, which is heading northwest at a speed of 15 km per hour, is forecast to make landfall on coastal areas between Zhejiang's city of Zhoushan and Jiangsu's city of Qidong Saturday night or during the day on Sunday, the statement said.

The typhoon is expected to bring gales to the country's eastern coastal areas over the next three days. Parts of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei and Liaoning provinces will be hit by torrential rain.

However, heat wave will continue to scorch the country's southern regions.

Temperatures in some areas of Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will stay around 37 to 38 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Some parts of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province are also forecast to experience high temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius over the next three days.