"Chinese diplomats in Karachi visited the hospital and urged Pakistani police solve the case as soon as possible and bring the criminals to justice."

BEIJING: A wary China today asked Pakistan to take necessary security measures to protect thousands of its nationals working in the country, a day after a Chinese shipping employee was shot dead in Karachi.

"Recently the Pakistan government and the military has taken a series of counter terrorism and social security management actions," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said here when asked whether China is confident about the security of its nationals in Pakistan after yesterday's shooting.

"We support Pakistan to promote relevant actions and safeguard domestic security and stability. We hope and believe Pakistan will continue to take measures to safeguard the security of the Chinese institutions and personnel in Pakistan," he said.

A lone gunman opened fire at 46-year-old Chen Zhu's car in Clifton near Zamzama Park, in what police have called a targeted attack. A second Chinese national travelling with him survived the attack. Chen later died in hospital. Geng said Chinese diplomats in Karachi visited the hospital and urged Pakistani police solve the case as soon as possible and bring the criminals to justice.

"We strongly condemn the violent actions against Chinese citizens and we will closely follow the development of the case and provide necessary assistance to the family," he said, adding that China has maintained close communication with Pakistan on the incident.

The daylight shooting caused concern in China as several thousand Chinese are employed in Pakistan, working on a host of projects connected with the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) over which India has raised objections as it traversed through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.