China's ambassador to Australia urged Canberra on Thursday to step up its rescue efforts to help locate the 39 missing crew members on board a Chinese shipping boat that capsized in the Indian Ocean early this week.
President Xi Jinping has ordered that all efforts be made to search for the missing crew, which includes 17 Chinese nationals, 17 Indonesians and five from the Philippines, state media reported on Wednesday.
"This is within Australia's search and rescue area ... we wish our Australian colleagues will co-ordinate with other international or foreign vessels or ships near the area to help to search and rescue to save as many lives as possible," Ambassador Xiao Qian said at a press conference.
