China's success in evacuating its nationals from turbulent Libya culminated on Wednesday after the Foreign Ministry announced that a total of 35,860 Chinese people had been safely helped to leave the North African country. All Chinese people who desired to leave and whose whereabouts were known, have now been evacuated.

Workers from Nanchang who have been evacuated from Libya, wave flags towards the welcoming crowd after arriving at the Nanchang railway station in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi province, March 3, 2011. [Hu Guolin/Xinhua]

This is the largest and the most complicated overseas evacuation operation ever conducted by the government since the People's Republic of China was founded on Oct 1, 1949.

No wonder the country's quick response, efficient organization, effective coordination and strong logistic support, have earned praise both at home and overseas.

We offer our warmest welcome to all our compatriots who have already returned home or are on their way home. We offer our gratitude to all the Chinese people involved in the operation and the foreign countries that have provided generous support to the Chinese effort.

It is noteworthy that China also helped 12 countries to evacuate about 2,100 of their citizens. This embodies the country's commitment to its international humanitarian responsibilities.

The Libya operation is proof that only when a nation grows stronger does it have the capability to protect its citizens, no matter where they are.

The on-going convulsion in Libya has not only wreaked havoc in the country, it has also escalated tensions in the region and the world at large. The undesirable impacts arguably attest to the importance of stability for a nation's development.

As was put by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Wednesday, China hopes all sectors of Libya can work together to solve the current crisis and restore order in a peaceful way as soon as possible.

At a time when peace and stability seem to be a luxury to an increasing number of countries in the world, the international community should make efforts to shore up hope for peaceful solutions to regional crises.

In recent years, embracing the government-initiated "going global" strategies, a number of Chinese enterprises have launched overseas research and development operations, as well as production and distribution. While contributing to the process of building an open economy, such efforts have helped developing countries enhance self-development capacity, improve the livelihoods of their peoples and narrow the North-South gap.

But the huge property loss many Chinese companies have suffered in Libya should once again remind those who are vying for the overseas market of the potential risks.

Chinese companies should raise their risk-resisting awareness and remain vigilant on regional or civil disorder to better protect the safety of their properties overseas.