BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) Wednesday continued its orange alert for Typhoon Talim, which could intensify to a super typhoon and is likely to hit China's southeastern coast Thursday or Friday.

At 5 a.m. Wednesday, the eye of Talim, this year's 18th typhoon in the region, was above the northwestern Pacific Ocean, 760 km southeast of Zhejiang Province, packing winds up to 38 meters per second.

The NMC forecast that Talim would move northwest at a speed of 20 km per hour toward the coast of Zhejiang.

It warned that Talim would grow stronger and could escalate to a super typhoon with winds up to 52 meters per second, expecting it to land in coastal areas of Zhejiang between Thursday night and Friday morning.

It is possible that Talim will move north in waters near Zhejiang Friday and then turn northeast.

From Wednesday to Thursday, Talim will bring gales and rainstorms to the southern East China Sea, waters in the Taiwan Strait and east of Taiwan, as well as Fujian Province.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.