China launched 20 operations to evacuate citizens in past decade

A senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday that a recent Chinese movie called Home Coming is a vivid reflection of the country's efforts to evacuate its citizens overseas from turmoil as China has organized nearly 20 emergency operations over the past decade to evacuate its nationals from overseas.

After the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Chinese diplomats successfully evacuated more than 5,200 Chinese quickly, Ma Zhaoxu, vice-minister of the Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference in Beijing. He also reminded Chinese citizens who are still in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as possible given the current security situation.

Noting that China's diplomatic service has always been people-centered, Ma said Chinese diplomats have been working to provide diplomatic services that satisfy the Chinese people and are also resolutely safeguarding the lawful right and interests of its citizens overseas.

According to Ma, over the past 10 years, the Foreign Ministry's consular service hotline 12308 has received 2.7 million calls of various kinds and China has signed agreements on mutual visa exemption with more than 150 countries, greatly improving the value of Chinese passports.