A maritime rescue official said yesterday that Chinese rescue teams saved a record 3,801 people in 2006.

China has been constantly upgrading its sea rescue capability, said Song Jiahui, chief of the rescue and salvage bureau under the Ministry of Communications.

Song said over the past year the bureau's teams provided a round-the-clock service for rescue and emergency assistance at sea. And they'd further developed their capabilities to receive distress signals from ships.

The helicopter-to-ship rescue model was taking shape in China, said Song. The nine helicopters from the bureau's four air rescue groups flew over 3,500 sorties last year.

Song said in 2006 the rescue teams also helped 170 ships, including 60 foreign vessels, out of danger. He explained that the teams also salvaged 25 boats that had sunk. This was a 100 percent success rate.

According to the bureau, China will establish a comprehensive rescue system on the South China Sea and the rest of its ocean territory in east and northeast China by 2010.

The number of rescue ships will increase from 100 to 168 while air rescue groups will increase from four to 12. The ocean radius they are capable of covering will jump from the current 110 nautical miles to 260, according to the bureau.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2007)