A Bangladeshi woman and her baby stare helplessly at the piles of debris left after the worst cyclone in 130 years hit her village in Khulna District, some 320 km south from the capital Dhaka, on November 15.

The official death toll reached 3,447 as of November 20, while about 3 million displaced survivors were in desperate need of tents, food, drinking water and medical supplies.

Financial aid by the international community is being offered, with the Chinese Government donating $1 million worth of emergency assistance to the country.

In a message sent to his Bangladeshi counterpart Iajuddin Ahmed on November 18, Chinese President Hu Jintao offered the nation's sympathies to those affected.