China has announced that it will not evacuate engineers and technicians from Pakistan after three Chinese engineers were shot dead in Pakistan on Wednesday.

"I don't think all Chinese people in Pakistan should leave the country because of the incident," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a routine press conference Thursday.

However, he advised Chinese people living there to be alert and to take effective measures to protect themselves.

Qin emphasized that China is very concerned and has urged Pakistan to take measures to step up the protection of Chinese people living there.

"We have consulted Pakistan on the issue many times and they are dealing with the aftermath urgently, Qin added.

According to Qin, Chinese President Hu Jintao showed grave concern when informed about the murder on Wednesday evening, and ordered the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassy and consulates to urge Pakistan to catch the murderers and ensure the safety of Chinese people.

Hu also expressed his deep sympathies to the families of the victims.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan gave similar instructions, according to sources with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing made an urgent phone call to his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri at 1:00 a.m. on Thursday, expressing similar sentiments.

Qin said that Chinese diplomats led the 11 other Chinese engineers on the same project into the Chinese consulate and helped take the victims' bodies back to Karachi,

The Pakistani government expressed their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and strongly condemned the brutal murders, Qin said.

The Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Commerce have sent task forces to deal with the issue and have instructed the relevant Chinese companies to dispatch working groups to deal with the aftermath, Qin added.

Three Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed on Wednesday when their car were attacked by gunmen on a road in the town of Hub, some 700 km southeast of Quetta, the Balochistan provincial capital. Three other Chinese people also in the car escaped injury.

The victims, Long Hongbao, Wei Jianpin and Zhao Bin were shot when their car were attacked.

The engineers were working for a Chinese company on the construction of a local cement factory which will be completed in the first half of this year.

Source: Xinhua