Hurricane-hit Cuba receives aid from China

China has made a donation to Cuba to help the Caribbean country recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, officials said Monday.

In an exchange of missives, Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Zhang Tuo made the donation to Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Ileana Nunez, saying the aid was meant to express China's solidarity with Cuba whose eastern region was battered by the category 2 hurricane.

Nunez thanked China for the kind offer and said the donation, along with donations from China's Red Cross and other aid from across the world, would go to the hurricane victims.

The late-season storm landed in eastern Cuba on Oct. 25, lashing the region with heavy rains and strong wind that flooded towns, destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, ruined acres of crops and claimed 11 lives.