China urges Malaysia to coordinate efforts, speed up flight search

China on Wednesday urged Malaysia to coordinate international search and rescue efforts and speed up the search for missing Malaysia Air flight MH370.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a routine press briefing that Malaysia should take primary responsibility in handling the aftermath and investigation as the missing flight was operated by Malaysia Airlines.

He appealed to the Malaysian side to take the lead in coordinating international search and rescue efforts.

Dozens of ships and planes from 10 countries and regions are scouring the waters around Flight MH370's last known location. Other countries, including Thailand and New Zealand, also sent search and rescue missions to the targeted sea area.

According to the airline, the search for the missing plane has extended to land.

"We hope to enhance communication with Malaysia and strengthen coordination with search and rescue ships of other countries," Qin said.

China has sent eight ships and several aircraft to help in the search for the flight.

A total of 115 family members of the passengers on missing flight MH370 have arrived in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, said Malaysia Airlines Wednesday afternoon.

The company said in a statement that "they are taken care of by 72 different caregivers, and at least one caregiver is assigned to each family together with a Mandarin translator for the families from China."

"China and the rest of the international community are very worried about the missing flight, as its whereabouts still remain unknown," said the spokesman, who urged Malaysia not to miss any clues and to speed up search efforts.

The international search for missing flight MH370 entered its fifth day Wednesday, with few solid results yielded.