Chinese Ambassador to Mozambique Su Jian has said his government has given US$1 million in emergency aid to relieve the effects of the recent cyclone in his host country.

The online edition of the Mozambican newspaper quotes Mr Su as saying China has also sent Mozambique a shipment of 5,700 tonnes of rice, which should arrive soon.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Mozambique and another group of Chinese merchants there have donated relief supplies, including 200 tonnes of rice, Notícias says.

Separately, the Chinese government-run news agency, Xinhua, reports that Chinese relief workers have handed out food and drinking water to hundreds of children at an orphanage and a school in central Mozambique.

The Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a 65-stong party to Mozambique to support the search-and-rescue effort there, the first such mission abroad since the ministry was set up last March.