China navy safeguards security on high seas

China's naval fleets have escorted 3,400 foreign ships over the past 10 years, around 51.5 percent of the total escorted, according to a Ministry of National Defense statement.

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the ministry, told a press conference that China sent the first naval fleet to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for escort missions on December 26, 2008.

Since then, 31 fleets have escorted more than 6,600 ships from around the world, and rescued over 70 ships in danger, Wu said.

Protection provided by the Chinese fleet has been widely praised. Some foreign ships would rather wait several days to be escorted by the fleet, the statement said.

The Chinese naval fleet has accepted its international obligations, offering high-quality public security products for the international community.

In 2015, when a civil war broke out in Yemen, a Chinese fleet of three vessels helped evacuate 683 overseas Chinese as well as 279 foreign citizens from 15 countries, the statement said.

The fleet has established information sharing and commander meeting mechanisms with task fleets from the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, organizing more than 20 meetings among fleet commanders.