China has urged Sudan to take effective steps to protect Chinese nationals and organizations in that country following the recent attack on an oilfield that Beijing is involved in, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

"Any threat to Chinese nationals or organizations in Sudan is unacceptable," Qin Gang said. "The friendly cooperation between China and Sudan is based on mutual respect and benefit, equality and co-development, which have promoted the development of Sudan's economy and brought tangible benefits to the Sudanese people."

Chinese companies are also engaged in public welfare in Sudan, he said.

The attackers probably wanted to use the incident to draw attention because they were members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the two most active rebel groups in Darfur, Chinese experts said. The JEM is against the upcoming peace talks on Darfur.

The group claimed responsibility for this week's attack on a "Chinese-run" oilfield in South Kodorfan State, neighboring Darfur, and had taken control of the facility.

But Sudanese armed forces later denied its claim, saying: "No oilfield has been occupied." A 20-member armed group attacked the el-Rahu camp near Difra oilfield and captured a vehicle of a Chinese company.

"The Darfur peace talks will possibly be held at the end of this month or early next year," said Dai Yan, a former Chinese diplomat who worked in Africa for many years. "It seems that the JEM is attacking innocent Chinese to draw more attention, and gain more weight at the talks, though it's not likely to attend it."

He did not rule out the possibility of some powers supporting the Justice Equality Movement to exert pressure on China to change its policy toward Sudan, with which it has close economic ties.

Chinese working in Sudan have helped improve the life of the people there, Dai said. "So Chinese nationals should not be treated like this."