Director of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Sudan's evacuation operation safely evacuated 1508 Chinese citizens | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | China
On June 21, Wu Xi, Director General of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that since the armed conflict in Sudan in April this year, relevant departments such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant embassies and consulates abroad, the Chinese military, and Chinese enterprises have urgently mobilized and carefully organized evacuation operations, successfully and safely withdrawing 1508 Chinese citizens.
Wu Xi made the above statement on the same day when he was invited to attend the "Linjia No. 7 Salon" special briefing to introduce the relevant situation of China's consular work in the new era.
The picture shows the scene of the "Linjia No. 7 Salon" special briefing. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ma Zhuoyan
Wu Xi said that in addition to Chinese citizens, China is also actively assisting citizens of other countries within its capabilities, helping citizens of 8 other countries, including over 200 Pakistani citizens, to evacuate.
According to Wu Xi, in the past 10 years of the new era, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized and implemented nearly 20 emergency evacuation operations for Chinese citizens overseas, handling over 500000 consular protection cases involving millions of Chinese citizens. Since the opening of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Global Consular Protection and Emergency Service Hotline 12308 in 2014, it has received over 3 million calls.
![Director of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Sudan's evacuation operation safely evacuated 1508 Chinese citizens | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | China](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/1dde6eff39963ed3381b19ea00b575d8.jpg)
Wu Xi introduced that China has currently signed visa exemption agreements with 152 countries covering different types of passports. Among them, visa free agreements with nearly 20 countries cover all types of passports, including diplomatic, official, and regular passports. The countries that have signed visa free agreements with China cover five continents, including Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania.
"At present, we are still negotiating with some countries, hoping to have more visa exemption or visa facilitation arrangements, so as to better promote personnel exchanges between China and other countries in the world." Wu Xi said that since the implementation of "Class B and Class B management" for COVID-19 infection, China has resumed outbound team travel business for Chinese citizens from 60 countries. "We also use pre boarding antigen testing instead of nucleic acid testing, which not only considers the needs of epidemic prevention and control, but also greatly facilitates international travel."
In March of this year, China officially submitted its accession letter to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the custodian of the Convention on the Cancellation of Certification Requirements for Foreign Official Documents, marking China's official accession to the Convention. In early November, the convention will enter into force and be implemented in China. Wu Xi stated that after the convention takes effect, it will significantly save the time and cost of certification for Chinese and foreign personnel and enterprises, providing more convenience for related commercial activities and individuals.
The "Linjia No. 7 Salon" themed briefing is hosted by the China Public Diplomacy Association and regularly invites guests to interact and exchange ideas with Chinese and foreign journalists on relevant topics.