Multiple nations have scrambled to evacuate embassy staff and citizens by road, air and sea from Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed hundreds and led to acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel.
Rescue operations have intensified since a 72-hour ceasefire took effect on Tuesday.
But some fighting was reported around Sudan on Thursday, as well as air strikes in the capital Khartoum.
"So far, more than 1,300 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
She said many had left Sudan on board Chinese naval vessels.
"We have helped citizens of five countries to evacuate Sudan on Chinese ships," Mao said.
"Other countries have also asked for China's assistance in evacuation."
China has deployed the guided missile destroyer Nanning and another supply ship with 490 military personnel on board to assist with the evacuation, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
It is the third time that the Chinese navy has sent warships to carry out an evacuation mission abroad, following rescue operations in Libya in 2011 and Yemen in 2015.
A video clip released by the Chinese navy shows an officer boarding a vessel carrying a toddler and other evacuees waving Chinese flags.
The first batch of 678 people evacuated by the Chinese team arrived safely at a port in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by ship on Thursday morning, CCTV said.
China says it is Sudan's largest trading partner, with more than 130 companies investing there by mid-2022.
The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday it estimated about 1,500 of its nationals were in Sudan.
More than 300 Chinese nationals have crossed over to countries bordering Sudan by land, Mao said on Wednesday.
The fighting has killed at least 512 people and wounded more than 4,000, according to Sudan's health ministry, and reduced some districts of greater Khartoum to ruins.
UN agencies reported Sudanese civilians fleeing the fighting to countries including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.
With Khartoum's international airport disabled after battles that damaged many aircraft, groups of foreigners have been airlifted out from smaller airstrips.
Other evacuations were taking place from Port Sudan, an 850-kilometre (530-mile) drive from Khartoum.
An Indonesian military plane flew 110 Indonesian nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Jakarta said on Thursday.
It brought to 667 the total number of Indonesians evacuated from Sudan since the conflict began.
Exhausted Iraqis evacuated from Sudan back in Baghdad
Baghdad (AFP) April 27, 2023 -
More than 200 exhausted Iraqis evacuated from Sudan flew back to Baghdad on Thursday, with one saying he hadn't seen the sun in 10 days because of the fighting.
Among the 234 people who were flown to Baghdad International Airport from Port Sudan were 16 Syrians, the foreign ministry said.
It was unclear whether they would stay in Iraq or return home.
"Overnight the war happened," said 30-year-old Iraqi engineer Ahmed al-Baldawi, his eyes red with fatigue.
"There was no food, no water and no electricity. For 10 days we didn't see the sun."
Evacuees arrived Thursday with stuffed backpacks and heavy suitcases, and one woman in a dark abaya carried her white cat in a plastic crate.
Another young woman burst into tears of relief as she left the airport.
The fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between Sudan's army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
At least 512 people have been killed and 4,193 wounded, according to official figures in Sudan, although the real toll is likely to be much higher.
Many countries have been taking advantage of a tenuos truce to evacuate their citizens by air, land and sea, even though fighting has continued with air strikes in the capital Khartoum.
An evacuation of Iraqis organised in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates embassy in Khartoum had been due to take place on Sunday, Baldawi said.
"We were happy and got ready, but then they told us it was only for Emiratis," Baldawi told AFP.
"So we stayed stuck in our apartments. We were devastated."
- ' It was catastrophic' -
Robay Ahmed, 24, said he had returned to Iraq with his parents, brother and sister, 16 years after the family settled in Sudan.
"It was catastrophic," he said. "We kept away from the windows and we stayed low. There was a lot of fear."
Ahmed said he had just completed his medical studies to become a dentist.
"I couldn't even get my diploma," he said.
Before they could board their plane at Port Sudan, the evacuees had to travel nearly 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) by bus from Khartoum, a 12-hour journey on bumpy roads.
"The road is exhausting, it's nickname is the 'road of death'," said Ibrahim Jomaa, the father of a young girl.
"The bus was tossed from left to right -- we thought it was going to overturn."
But Jomaa was still full of praise for the Iraqi authorities who had managed to arrange their transport to safety.
He recalled that when the first shots rang out on April 15, "we thought the situation would calm down. People went to work and the kids went to school.
"But then suddenly there was artillery and rocket fire, and warplanes overhead," he said.
"We were the last to leave our building. It's empty now."
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