China's diplomatic efforts have rebounded after being affected by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), said Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo Sunday.

Dai said "We are prepared to be overworked" later this year.

He said that in the second half of the year, Chinese leaders would attend important multilateral meetings such as the APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting, China and ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings and China, Japan,the Republic of Korea and ASEAN meetings.

He said 64 visits of foreign ministers and higher officials had been confirmed, of which nearly 30 would be of state guest status.

Dai said Chinese diplomats will also attend international meetings such as the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and Bo'ao Asian Forum.

According to the Foreign Ministry, during April to June, 19 scheduled visits of foreign heads of state or government were postponed due to the outbreak of SARS in China. Many nations took measures to restrict travels to and from China.

He said China understood and respected their stance, and China's diplomacy was still successful during the period.

Resolving the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republicof Korea was one of the main issues confronting Chinese diplomats. From April 23 - 25, China, the DPRK and the United States held talks in Beijing.

Dai said preparation work for the planned six-party talks is moving ahead and China hoped the talks could start as early as possible.

At the end of May and the beginning of June, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia and attended international meetings. At the end of April, Premier Wen Jiabao attended a special meeting on SARS held by China and Asean. Vice-Premier Wu Yi attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva in June. 　　

Dai said these visits were of special significance since they introduced new Chinese leaders to the world and demonstrated that the new Chinese government was candid, open and responsible.

During the SARS outbreak in April and from then to July, some foreign leaders visited China as planned in spite of SARS. Dai said their visits had given China valuable support.

At the same time many leaders called or wrote, expressing their sympathy.

"The Chinese people will bear in mind all this," said Dai.

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