Seven were killed in the city of Taizhou, which suffered the full fury of the storm overnight, a flood control official said.

"The rain has stopped and we can see trees on the street blown down and some areas of the city are still flooded and many houses collapsed," said the official.

At least one person was killed by a fallen power line in Taizhou, Xinhua said.

Khanun, which spared the island of Taiwan on Saturday, made landfall in the mountainous eastern province of Zhejiang, where storms regularly trigger deadly floods and landslides.

The storm flattened almost 7,500 homes and caused nearly 7 billion yuan ($870 million) in direct losses, Xinhua said on its English Web site, www.chinaview.cn.

Heavy winds and rain cut power to Taizhou, where schools were closed on Monday and bus services suspended.

Neighbouring Wenzhou also lost power, and authorities cancelled most flights in and out of the city.

To the north, Shanghai shut down its two airports, cancelling nearly 400 flights. Heavy rain fell overnight, but it died down on Monday to leave the city humid and blustery as the storm weakened into a tropical depression.