China vowed on Tuesday to go all out to rescue the missing compatriots in the sea off northeastern Madagascar.

China attached great importance to the matter, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, adding the ministry had required Chinese embassy in Madagascar to take all impossible measures to find the missing people, including eight from Taiwan and a local resident of Chinese origin.

According to Liu, Chinese ambassador to Madagascar Wo Ruidi had made an urgent representation to the Madagascan government. And the Chinese embassy there immediately undertook rescue operations.

The Madagascan government paid much attention to China's representation and concern, and had been organizing rescue missions to search for the ship since last Friday, according to said.

After the accident on Thursday, ships and small planes had searched for the missing people over the sea while the soldiers and police carried out rescue operations around the nearby coast.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2008)