"All Chinese who desired to go back and whose whereabouts were known by the foreign ministry have been evacuated from Libya," Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao said in a statement released late Wednesday.
Of the 35,860 Chinese evacuated, nearly 21,000 have already returned to China, while the others were on their way back, he said.
The huge air, sea and land operation staged over the past week has dominated state media coverage of the unrest in the North African state which has left hundreds dead and sent thousands of foreigners fleeing the country.
"This was the largest and the most complicated overseas evacuation ever conducted by the Chinese government," Song said quoted by AFP.
China also evacuated from Libya 2,100 foreign nationals from 12 countries out of "humanitarian" concerns, he added.
Song thanked Greece, Malta, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Jordan for offering assistance in the operation that began on February 23.
As the popular uprising against Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi escalated, China has used chartered and military planes, ships, buses and -- for the first time, according to state media -- a naval frigate in the evacuation effort.
China had 847,000 workers scattered around the world at the end of 2010 -- 69,000 more than in 2009 -- with about 30 percent employed in the construction industry, according to official figures.
Most of the Chinese nationals in Libya were working in the railways, oil and telecom sectors, according to state media.
(Uu.H-AK/
(Uu.SYS/C/H-AK/C/H-AK) 03-03-2011 11:09:57
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
