BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday strongly condemned a violent armed attack on a Chinese oil company site in Ethiopia's Somali state.

    Nine Chinese and a number of Ethiopians working for the company were killed while seven other Chinese were kidnapped in the attack by more than 200 unidentified gunmen, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.

    "The Chinese government strongly condemns this atrocious armed attack, mourns for the Chinese and Ethiopian victims and expresses deep sympathies to their families and those injured in the attack," said Liu.

    Liu said the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia and the Chinese company have formed anemergency team to deal with the incident.

    China asked Ethiopia to take concrete and effective measures to ensure personnel and property safety of Chinese agencies in the country and help resolve problems arising from the attack, Liu said.

    The Ethiopian government has sent troops reinforcements to the site of the attack, Liu added.

    The attack happened at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday on the company's premises, which is located in Abole, a small town in southeast Ethiopia's Somali state.