TYPHOON Muifa pounded China’s commercial capital of Shanghai with high winds and heavy rain while more than 400,000 residents along the country’s east coast were moved to shelter and tens of thousands of fishing boats were recalled to port.

More than 200,000 coastal residents in eastern China have been evacuated and thousands of ships called back to shore today as Typhoon Muifa bears down on the country after battering the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.

CHINA warned millions of people living along its east coast to stay indoors and cancelled more than 100 flights in preparation for the most powerful typhoon in years.