Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechion Sunday sent a message of condolences to his Myanmar counterpart U Nyan Win over the weekend cyclone disaster.

Deadly cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal and struck Yangon for over 10 hours from Friday midnight to Saturday noon, has causes serious damage to the city, killing more than 240 people.

Myanmar has declared three divisions of Yangon, Bago and Ayeyawaddy and two states of Kayin and Mon as natural-disaster-hit regions.

A national central committee for prevention of natural disaster has been formed with Prime Minister General Thein Sein as its chairman to promptly and effectively carry out relief and resettlement tasks, according to an announcement by the State Peace and Development Council.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2008)