Shipping and rail services across the Qiongzhou Strait between south China's Hainan Province and mainland have been suspended as strong tropical storm Lekima is heading toward the island.

The Hainan maritime bureau ordered a suspension of all navigation across the strait at 6 PM Monday due to the upcoming Lekima, said an official with the passenger transportation at the port of Haikou, capital of Hainan.

Train services between Sanya, a southern coastal city of Hainan and Xuwen, Zhanjiang and Guangzhou in the mainland were also suspended, according to railway authorities.

The center of Lekima was spotted in central South China Sea, about 390 km southeast of Sanya at 8 PM Monday, packing winds of up to 108 km per hour and moving west-northwestward at a speed of 10 to 15 km per hour.

Lekima, named after a type of fruit in Vietnam, will continue to gain strength and is expected to make landfall in the southeastern coast of the island Tuesday night or Wednesday morning or pass by its offshore areas, according to the Hainan Provincial Meteorological Observatory.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2007)