China's preliminarily statistics showed nine Chinese citizens were onboard the missing Air France airliner, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

"This is not good news, and our hearts go out to all the families and relatives of the passengers during this time," Qin said at a regular press conference.

He said the Foreign Ministry and relevant Chinese diplomatic and consular missions are working to solve problems arising from the missing of the nine Chinese passengers.

Once the event occurred, the Foreign Ministry asked Chinese embassies in France and Brazil as well as the consulate in Rio de Janeiro to contact with French diplomatic bodies, Air France and relevant travel agencies to get to know the exact number of missing Chinese citizens, Qin said.

The Foreign Ministry has set up a hotline, 010-65964087, which offers information service for relatives or friends of the Chinese passengers, Qin said.

The Foreign Ministry and relevant Chinese diplomatic and consular missions will keep in close contact with relevant departments and closely watch the ongoing rescue efforts, he said.

Flight 447, an Airbus 330-200 bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro last Sunday at 7:00 PM, (2200 GMT), with 228 people on board.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)