The 21st fleet from China's navy left China's Port of Sanya city Tuesday for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somali to escort civil ships.

Chinese naval forces have carried out escort missions in the area for over six years. During this period they have escorted almost 6,000 Chinese and foreign ships passing the waters.

They also evacuated Chinese nationals from Libya in 2011 during the civil war, supplied fresh water to Maldives in 2014, as well as evacuated Chinese nationals and people from other countries from Yemen.