More than 30 million Chinese travel overseas or go abroad to study or earn their living every year. Many of them find themselves in various crises, from everyday problems like losing a passport or being involved in an accident to natural and man-made disasters such as a tsunami and wars.

Who should they turn for help? The Chinese embassies and consulates are duty-bound to protect their basic internationally recognized rights. The past year was especially unforgettable because more Chinese abroad became victims of attacks, robberies, bomb explosions, kidnappings, fishery disputes, traffic accidents and natural disasters.

Official figures show that the government handled more than 30,000 consular cases last year to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals overseas. The figure was 29,000 in 2005.

In the past two months, 14 Chinese workers kidnapped in Nigeria returned home safe and sound, thanks to the tremendous efforts of Chinese diplomats. These efforts have added a new chapter to the history of China's diplomacy.

Director of the Department of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Wei Wei says Chinese consulate staff around the world are performing a much heavier duty because more Chinese travel and live abroad today.

Only 280,000 Chinese travelled or went to study or work abroad between 1949 and 1979, that is, in 30 years. In contrast, their number last year alone was 32 million. What's more, the country is fast becoming the largest source of tourists in Asia.

The international political, economic and security situation is becoming more complicated and erratic, Wei says. "Serving the people is the essence of China's diplomacy," and Chinese embassies and consulate-generals have been instructed to go all out to help Chinese citizens in accordance with international laws.

To maintain the existing system of consular protection, the Foreign Ministry set up the Division of Consular Protection, under the Department of Consular Affairs, in May that would handle and coordinate consular protection work. It's the biggest department in the foreign ministry and has 140 staff based in Beijing alone, with more than 600 consular officials working overseas.

Last year, the Foreign Ministry issued about 400 special notices on outbound traveling on its website, www.fmprc.gov.cn, up almost 50 percent over of 2005. The latest version of the regulation on "Consular Protection and Services Overseas" is expected to be made public next month.

Li Wei, a security expert with China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, says consular protection is a far more formidable job today , with people's need for consular protection growing constantly. In fact, consular protection is becoming a big challenge for every country, especially the bigger ones.

An estimated 100 million Chinese will travel overseas in 2020 for business, tourism, education or employment as more domestic enterprises strengthen their presence abroad. And the government will do its best to protect its citizens abroad, Li Wei says.

But he advises Chinese people, too, to learn to better protect themselves. He suggests Chinese citizens learn the local laws, customs and abide by them during their trips or stays abroad. They should remember certain important phone numbers, such as those of the Chinese embassy or consulate in the country of their stay. And to ensure a safe and sound trip, Chinese travelers should behave properly.

He said he hopes Chinese wishing to work abroad would be more cautious and verify the information with the domestic labor authorities and Chinese diplomatic mission to avoid disputes.

Li Wei says some Chinese companies had not taken the security cost into account while investing abroad. "They neither evaluated the security risks properly nor educated their employees," Li says, "thus few companies had any emergency plan to deal with a possible crisis."

(China Daily 03/07/2007 page8)