BEIJING, October 20. /TASS/. China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu has called on the country's citizens to leave Ukraine "as soon as possible". He was speaking at a news conference at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Thursday.

"Given the current security situation in Ukraine, the Chinese diplomatic missions in that country are currently preparing the evacuation of Chinese citizens," he said.

"I would like to take this opportunity once again to urge Chinese citizens to take appropriate security measures, get ready, contact the Chinese diplomatic offices in Ukraine as soon as possible and be evacuated as soon as possible," Ma stressed.

Earlier, he said that since the beginning of the crisis, the Chinese government had evacuated more than 5,200 Chinese citizens from Ukraine.