China scramble to evacuate thousands of its workers from Libya

China has over 30,000 workers employed in different infrastructure projects in Libya and reports said many of them were attacked and forced out of their dwellings. Since the unrest erupted in Libya on February 16, people had been attacked and there had been vandalism, looting and arson and Chinese firms had been attacked and Chinese nationals injured, China's Foreign Ministry said earlier.

Besides the chartered planes, four ocean liners, hired by Chinese embassies in Greece and Malta, were on their way to the waters near Libya, and the Chinese Embassy in Egypt also had hired about one hundred buses to evacuate Chinese nationals from the country, state-run Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.

Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Ioannis Diamantidis promised to provide assistance for China's evacuation of nationals from Libya, it said.
Seven ships had departed from Greece for Libya to help in the evacuation, according to the Greek minister, saying it would take ten hours for the ships to reach the Crete from Libya's Benghazi.

The majority of Chinese nationals in Libya are employees of Chinese companies with operations in the country. Early Wednesday, 83 Chinese nationals, working as business staff and construction labourers of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), were evacuated from Libya to Egypt.