BEIJING (Reuters) - China has offered to send aircraft and ships to help in the search for a missing AirAsia flight which vanished on Sunday flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said on Monday.

"The Chinese side has already said to Indonesia that it is willing to urgently send aircraft and ships to participate in search and rescue, and will provide other aid according to Indonesian needs," the ministry said in a statement.