China urges timely reports about missing flight

China's Ministry of Transport (MOT) has urged timely reports from Chinese ships passing the waters where contact was lost with the Malaysian flight missing since Saturday morning.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft left the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Saturday, and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day, according to the Malaysia Airlines.

Chinese maritime search and rescue has established cooperation with Malaysian and Vietnamese counterparts, and hopes the two countries can help find the exact location of the plane soon.

Two rescue aircraft from Vietnam and one from Malaysia have started searching the area of 3,000 square nautical miles in which it is suspected the plane was lost.

The MOT also dispatched two rescue ships to the area Saturday afternoon, while notifying all passing Chinese ships to pay close attention and make timely reports.

Meanwhile, China's Civil Aviation Administration asked the Malaysian aviation authorities to verify the actual flight situation, and urged Malaysia Airlines to provide necessary aid for the relatives of the lost passengers in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Covenant.