China announced Saturday that three Chinese construction workers kidnapped in Nigeria's southern Cross River state have been released safely.

The workers, seized by unidentified people on Tuesday in Calabar, the capital city of Nigeria's southern Cross River State, were released on Friday thanks to the efforts exerted by China with relevant parties to rescue them, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

The workers were all employees of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2008)