China should help Philippines despite row

China should put aside its territorial dispute with the Philippines to help victims of typhoon Haiyan, state-run media says, adding that doing so was in Beijing's best interests.

The two countries are embroiled in a long-standing dispute over islands in the strategically vital South China Sea - which Beijing claims almost in its entirety - and Manila says Chinese vessels have occupied the Scarborough Shoal, which it claims, since last year.

China is to give the Philippines $US100,000 ($A107,100) for relief efforts, the foreign ministry says, and the state-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial Tuesday the territorial row should not affect such decisions.

"It's a must to aid typhoon victims in the Philippines," said the paper, which is close to the ruling Communist party.

But it added: "China's international image is of vital importance to its interests. If it snubs Manila this time, China will suffer great losses."

"Aid to the typhoon victims is a kind of humanitarian aid, which is totally different from foreign aid in the past made out of geopolitical concerns."

Earlier, state media reported that Haiyan had killed eight people in southern China and inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to farming and fishing industries.

Hardest hit in China was the southern island of Hainan, where the approaching storm wrenched a cargo ship from its moorings on Sunday, drove it out to sea and prevented rescue attempts by speed boat and helicopter.

Three bodies have been recovered and four crew members remain missing, China National Radio says.

By Tuesday, four other people in Hainan were confirmed dead, including two hit by falling objects, according to China National Radio, which said the storm caused up to $US700 million ($A749 million) in damage to agricultural, forestry, poultry and fishing industries there.

Another person drowned in Guangxi, China News Service reported.