China will provide 30 million yuan (4.57 million U.S. dollars) worth of emergency humanitarian assistance to Japan to support the disaster relief there, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Monday.

The Chinese government has started its outbound humanitarian emergency relief operations for the quake and tsunami-hit areas in Japan and the first batch of relief materials, including blankets, tents and emergency lights, will be transported to Japan from Shanghai, MOC said in a brief statement on its website.

A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit Japan last Friday, causing widespread destruction and leaving more than 1,000 people dead and thousands missing.

China sent a 15-member international rescue team on Sunday to help Japan with search and rescue operations.