Hotline helps nationals overseas

China opened a global calling center on Tuesday to help the record number of Chinese traveling or working overseas.

Chinese diplomats have guided or evacuated compatriots out of turmoil or criminal assaults this year in places such as South Sudan, Vietnam and Libya.

The country will "weave a full-time 'safety net' that spans the globe to make sure our compatriots receive timely consular protection and service from the motherland wherever they are", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the inauguration ceremony at the ministry on Tuesday.