王毅：去年中国内地公民出境增长了近10%，突破1.2亿人次。中国公民出境旅游目的地国家和地区已达150多个，在海外的各类劳务人员超过100万，海外留学人员达到近200万。这一方面说明我们的国家快速发展，人民生活水平不断提高，但另一方面，也给海外领事保护工作带来巨大压力。坦率地讲，我们资源有限，手段不足，能力建设也亟待加强。

Wang Yi: Last year, mainland citizens made over 120 million overseas visits, a growth rate of almost 10 percent. Over 150 countries and territories have become destinations for Chinese tourists. There are over one million Chinese working abroad and close to two million Chinese studying abroad. This shows that our country is developing rapidly and the life of our people is getting better every day. On the other hand, it also puts enormous strain on consular protection. To be honest, our resources and tools are limited, and our capacity is not yet up to the task.

但不管面对多大困难，本着外交为民的宗旨，我们都会尽心竭力，做好领事保护工作。仅过去一年，外交部和驻外使领馆就处理了8万多起领保案件，平均每天处理235起，每6分钟就有1起。其中12308领保热线累计接听十几万次电话，协助166个驻外使领馆处理了1.5万起案件。我们还成功解救了在海外被绑架的55位同胞，从陷入战火中的也门安全撤离613名同胞，从尼泊尔地震灾区接回6000多名同胞。说起民众关心的护照"含金量"，去年一年我们又同18个国家达成了便利人员往来的安排。给予持普通护照的中国公民免签和落地签的国家和地区达到54个。当然，这个数字与大家的期待还有不小距离，我们的努力决不会放松。

Having said this, we will do everything in our power to provide consular protection, bearing in mind that diplomacy must serve the people. In the course of last year, the Foreign Ministry and our diplomatic and consular missions abroad handled over 80,000 consular cases, or 235 cases per day, one case every six minutes. The 12308 consular protection hotline received over 100,000 phone calls and helped 166 of our overseas missions handle 15,000 consular cases. We successfully rescued 55 Chinese who had been abducted abroad. We evacuated 613 Chinese from conflict-ridden Yemen and over 6,000 Chinese from quake-hit Nepal. I know people care a lot about the "value" of the Chinese passport. Last year, we reached arrangements with another 18 countries to facilitate mutual travel. The number of countries and territories that give visa-free or visa-upon-landing treatment to ordinary Chinese citizens has reached 54. Of course, this figure still falls short of people's expectations, but I can assure you that we willnever relax our efforts.

领保工作永远在路上。事先预防而非事后补救，才是最好的保护。预防性领保将是我们今后的方向，比如加强安全防范意识的普及、在有条件国家设立警民合作中心、聘用当地领保联络员等，要把领保工作关口向国外前移，缩短领保反应时间，提高工作效率。尽量把问题解决在当地，避免大规模转移带来不必要的损失。总之，人民的利益大于天。同胞走到哪里，我们的领事保护与服务就应跟随到哪里。我们将全力为大家撑起一把越来越牢固的保护伞。

Consular protection is never-ending work. The best approach is prevention beforehand rather than remedy afterwards. So we will focus more on preventive consular protection. For example, we will enhance the security awareness of our people and in countries where conditions allow, we will set up police-civilian cooperation centers and appoint local liaison officers for consular protection. We want to move the first line of consular protection to foreign countries, shorten the response time and make our work more efficient. We will try to solve problems locally so as to avoid the unnecessary cost associated with large-scale evacuation. In short, the interests of the people are paramount. Consular protection and service must go wherever our compatriots have gone. We will do our level best to put up an ever stronger umbrella for Chinese people abroad.