Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced China would establish a global emergency call center for consular protection and services in 2014 -- a 24-hour hotline Chinese nationals can call anywhere, anytime, at a press conference held during the ongoing second session of China's 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, March 8.

China will establish a 24/7 global emergency call center, according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a press conference held during the ongoing second session of China's 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Mar.8. [Photo/China.org.cn]

The press conference was hosted right before a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people, including 154 Chinese, was reported losing all contact with air traffic control earlier this morning. Wang said he would rush to deal with the incident immediately after the conference.

To the question of how the Chinese Foreign Ministry will protect the lawful rights and interest and safety of Chinese institutions and Chinese nationals, Wang replied, "It is the biding principle of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to serve the people."

He then recalled a letter written by a woman in Henan Province thanking the Foreign Ministry for helping her husband out after being wrongly thrown into prison in a certain country. Wang said he was deeply moved by the letter, but did not reveal which country it was during the press conference.

Wang told the press that nearly 100 million Chinese travel abroad every year and there are more than 20,000 Chinese enterprises operating overseas. He said the Chinese Foreign Ministry handles tens of thousands of consular cases every year, ranging from helping Chinese nationals with their documents and getting in touch with their relatives, to rescuing Chinese hostages or carrying out large-scale evacuations.

"We would like to shield every one of our fellow citizens who travel abroad from the wind and rain and become the firm support they can count on," Wang said.