After the Chinese government's all-out rescue efforts, the eight Chinese nationals kidnapped in war-ravaged Iraq were finally released, causing a huge sigh of relief among all of us.

As more and more Chinese travel abroad for tourism or business, more Chinese expatriates face severe security menaces.

In October, two Chinese engineers were held hostage in Pakistan with one killed and the other injured during a rescue raid by Pakistani military forces.

During the tsunami disaster last month, more than 10 Chinese citizens were confirmed dead. In April last year, seven Chinese people from Fujian Province were kidnapped by Iraqi militants and were finally released thanks to the joint efforts of both countries.

Consular services for Chinese expatriates have encountered unprecedented challenges and have become increasingly important as the number of Chinese people and organizations abroad has soared because of China's opening-up policy.

In 1978 there were just 200,000 Chinese citizens going abroad. In 2003 the figure rose to 20.2 million, 100 times what it was 25 years ago.

Safeguarding its nationals' safety overseas has become a great challenge and an urgent task for China. China's Foreign Ministry so far has published more than 200 special notices on security for Chinese expatriates on its website, and approximately 2,000 consular cases including more than 40 severe ones that have been handled by China's overseas consulates.

In the first several decades after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, its foreign affairs work was mainly for securing the country's political power in the international arena. Nowadays, more efforts are being made to serve the interests of individual Chinese people.

The Chinese government cares a lot about people's interests and thinks much of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and organizations overseas, said Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

In November, the State Council, China's cabinet, set up China's first special consultation panel to take charge of formulating policies and measures and dealing with major events concerning the safety and protection of citizens and organizations overseas. The panel is believed to orchestrate all possible resources to help the Foreign Ministry tackle serious consular affairs.

China's top legislature last year passed a resolution ratifying the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel to protect its overseas citizens better. The Convention states that if Chinese peacekeepers joining UN operations are harmed, China has the right to demand the relevant countries to prosecute the suspects or extradite them to China.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry last year set up a new department for external security affairs that aimed to cope with increasing non-traditional security factors concerning overseas Chinese, and study any changes in the new situation.

But much more work is still needed to upgrade infrastructure facilities, form a framework to regulate and standardize consular services, provide training to employees and hire skilled professionals, especially foreigners versed in local law and culture.

China needs to speed up the ratification of some multilateral treaties to protect its overseas citizens' safety and interests better through judicial means.

Because threats to Chinese expatriates' safety are on the rise and are unpredictable, the Foreign Ministry is still working on an alarm system. The consular department has indicated that it will be more active in communicating with the general public through the media and more willing to receive feedback on public needs and complaints, as well as be more sensitive to security-related information abroad.

Most of the 203 online notices published by the Foreign Ministry last year were timely reports on the latest development of consular cases concerning Chinese. There are also guides telling people how to behave at border checkpoints, how to protect belongings while swimming and how to seek help in case of emergency.

It is clear that protection of Chinese nationals' safety and interests will be a focus of China's diplomatic work in the new era, and the government will certainly do more work in this regard.

(China Daily January 26, 2005)