China has so far evacuated about 200 nationals from violence-wracked Kyrgyzstan, and two extra planes are to be sent across the border on Tuesday to bring home more citizens, state media reported.
Two charter flights carrying 195 Chinese citizens landed in Urumqi, the capital of the far-western Xinjiang region bordering Kyrgyzstan, in the early hours of Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
About 600 Chinese living in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh — where ethnic clashes have reportedly killed nearly 140 people — have requested evacuation, the agency said, citing foreign ministry officials.
Kyrgyzstan's military is using armoured vehicles to take the Chinese nationals to the airport, the China Daily reported.
Two more planes are to be sent to Osh on Tuesday, state media said.
A total of more than 7,000 Chinese nationals live in the Osh region, according to the China Daily. Most of them are businessmen, but some are construction workers.
So far, no Chinese nationals have been counted among the dead and more than 1,700 injured in the violence in Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic Kyrgyz gangs have attacked the shops and homes of ethnic Uzbeks.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have fled across the border into Uzbekistan.
Chinese authorities have urged their nationals living in Kyrgyzstan to remain in their homes, after reports that Chinese-owned businesses were looted.
The United Nations has condemned the violence and pressed for a return to law and order in the central Asian state.
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