Twenty-two people have been killed and 10 are missing in eastern China after a major typhoon triggered a landslide and caused widespread transport disruptions and the evacuation of more than 1 million people, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Key points:

• Airports closed as more than a million evacuated across eastern China
• Authorities had originally issued a "red alert" over Typhoon Lekima
• Citizens warned about risk of fire, explosions and toxic leaks

Typhoon Lekima made landfall early on Saturday in the eastern province of Zhejiang with maximum winds of 187 kilometres per hour, although it had weakened from its earlier designation as a "super" typhoon, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Thousands of flights were cancelled in eastern China, according to the country's aviation regulator, with most flights into and out of Shanghai's two major airports cancelled on Saturday afternoon, their websites showed.

China's weather bureau on Saturday issued an orange alert, its second highest, after posting a red alert on Friday, when the storm forced flight cancellations in Taiwan and shut markets and businesses on the island.

The deadly landslide occurred about 130 kilometres north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, when a natural dam collapsed in an area deluged with 160 millimetres of rain within three hours, CCTV reported.

The storm was moving northward at 15 kph and was gradually weakening, Xinhua reported, citing the weather bureau.

High winds and heavy rains battered the financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, and Shanghai Disneyland was shut for the day.

Nearly 200 trains through the city of Jinan in Shandong province had been suspended until Monday, Xinhua reported.

More than 250,000 residents in Shanghai and 800,000 in Zhejiang province had been evacuated due to the typhoon.

More than 2.7 million households in Zhejiang had power blackouts as strong winds and rain downed electricity transmission lines, state media reported.