BEIJING - Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng on Tuesday called on Sudan to help free 29 Chinese workers who are being held by local rebels following a weekend attack on a camp belonging to a Chinese company. 

Xie summoned Sudan's charge d'affaires in Beijing and lodged urgent representations to the African nation over the incident. 

The rebels clashed with the Sudanese military in the offensive on Saturday, and have been holding 29 Chinese workers since. 

China feels "deeply shocked" by the incident, Xie said, according to a statement released on the Foreign Ministry's website. 

The central government pays considerable attention to protecting the safety of Chinese citizens overseas, he said.

The Sudanese charge d'affaires, in turn, said Sudan will make all efforts to handle the standoff and secure the safety of Chinese personnel.

Beijing has called for the immediate release of the workers, and sent a Foreign Ministry-led working group to Sudan to assist the rescue. The rebels claimed that they mean no harm and that the workers are in good hands. 

Members of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council also joined the group that left Beijing on Monday night, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said on Tuesday.

"China urges relevant parties to remain controlled and guarantee the safety of the abducted workers," Liu said.

A group of 47 Chinese workers were separated on Saturday while working on a multi-million dollar road project in Sudan's South Kordofan state, where clashes between the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army-North and the Sudanese army have been ongoing for months. The state borders newly independent South Sudan. 

The Sudanese army found 17 workers and transferred them to safety. One Chinese worker reportedly suffered gunshot wounds and remains missing, according to the Global Times newspaper.

Sudan's SUNA news agency on Monday said 14 of the 29 workers held by the rebels had been released by the Sudanese military, but the news has not been confirmed by the Chinese side.

China's Ambassador Luo Xiaoguang has expressed thanks and appreciation for the Sudanese government's efforts to help the Chinese workers and urged Khartoum to beef up the search for the ones still missing.

"This incident is individual and does not affect the bilateral ties between Sudan and China," said the ambassador, describing China-Sudan relations as "strong".

The rebels' spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Lodi on Monday told AFP that the release of the workers - who he says are "doing well" - depends on the security situation. 

"We will inform them at the right time. We are very concerned about their security and safety," Lodi said, denying Sudanese army claims that the Chinese workers were taken hostage.

There was no attack against the Chinese, he said from Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

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