The Embassy of China in Malta said yesterday morning that it had concluded its evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya.

Since the operation began 13 days ago, the embassy has evacuated a total of 4,859 Chinese nationals from Libya with three chartered cruise ships. Another 134 people who arrived in Malta by other means had also been taken home, according to the embassy.

Since 26 February, a total of 19 chartered flights, all bound for Shanghai, with the exception of one that flew to Beijing, has taken all 4,993 Chinese nationals back home.

At 5am yesterday, the last plane chartered by the Chinese government left Malta for Shanghai carrying 149 passengers – the final group of Chinese evacuees from Libya, most of whom had arrived here under their own steam.

In the spirit of humanitarianism, the embassy said, the three vessels it chartered had also evacuated a total of 41 foreigners of Maltese, Italian, Croatian, Vietnamese and Filipino nationalities.