Security and exchanges guaranteed

The country has been staying committed to people-centered principle in consular work

The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it has organized nearly 20 evacuation operations and has handled more than 500,000 cases of consular protection involving millions of Chinese nationals over the past 10 years.

The 12308 hotline has received over 3 million calls since being launched in 2014, Director-General of the Department of Consular Affairs at the Foreign Ministry Wu Xi told media in Beijing.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foreign Ministry and China's diplomatic and consular missions abroad rolled out a Spring Sprout program to vaccinate more than 4.6 million Chinese nationals living and working abroad, Wu said.

From assisting Chinese nationals in the fight against the pandemic to evacuating them from war-torn countries, China has been staying committed to the people-centered principle in consular work, keeping in mind the safety and well-being of every fellow countryman and countrywoman abroad, she said.

In April, China operated a large-scale evacuation of 1,508 Chinese nationals from Sudan in a very short time under a complex situation, after deadly clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum, according to Wu.

This is the third time China has used navy ships to evacuate civilians from a worsening security situation.

China also helped evacuate 231 foreigners — mainly from Pakistan, Tunisia, Nepal, the United Kingdom and Thailand — in that operation, she said, adding such practice is a manifestation of the spirit of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Noting there are still over 70 Chinese nationals in Sudan, Wu said that the Foreign Ministry and its embassy in the country will do their best to assist them if they are willing to leave.

Wu also said that China evacuated more than 5,000 Chinese nationals from Ukraine last year.

Since China reduced COVID-19 to a Class-B infectious disease in January, the country has adjusted policies to facilitate cross-border people-to-people exchange, Wu said.

China resumed outbound group tours to 60 countries and regions, and its policies of issuing visas have resumed to the pre-pandemic level, she said.

The number of international flights to China continues to increase, and the civil aviation department predicts that the number will further increase during the summer vacation this year, she added.

Over the past decade, China has signed bilateral visa-free policies with 152 countries, she said. During the China-Central Asia Summit in May, China and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to allow for visa-free travel.

"We will continue to strive for more measures to facilitate and promote cross-border people-to-people exchanges, and at the same time, we will firmly safeguard the security of Chinese citizens and institutions overseas," she said.