Chinese aid offer

The Chinese government on Saturday offered $US5 million ($6.5 million) to aid survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Beijing also will send emergency supplies and workers to help with medical treatment and epidemic prevention if necessary, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Qin said the Chinese government "will keep close contacts with the United States on the disaster relief work and join the international community in assisting the local people restoring their homeland," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The announcement came after a major Chinese oil company said Friday that it and its employees were donating 1.6 million yuan $US200,000 to help hurricane survivors.

The donation was announced by China National Offshore Oil Corp, which controls CNOOC Ltd, the Hong Kong-based company that tried to buy Unocal Corp. CNOOC dropped its bid last month, complaining about critics who said the deal could endanger US national security.