In the two years it has gone to the Gulf of Aden to provide escort services, the Chinese navy has protected and rescued 3,168 ships, including 1,347 foreign ones.

Seven of the ships brought home were released by pirates. The PLA Navy also protected one ship from attack, saved one during attack and rescued 29 ships that were pursued by pirates. It also prevented more than 80 ships from hijacking.

Among those protected were ships of Taiwanese companies, the first time the PLA Navy has protected the Taiwanese overseas since 1949.

"Somali pirates are the most serious and direct threat to Chinese ships,"said Wei Jiafu, chairman of Chinese Ship-Owner Association. "But protected by naval fleets, there is no need to worry about that."said Wei.

Wei said that all China-Africa trade and more than 90 percent of EU-China trade depend on maritime transportation, with the Gulf of Aden a required passageway.

The number of Somali pirates has tripled in the last two years, while their scope of activities has expanded from the Gulf of Aden to the entire Indian Ocean and covers almost all major routes in the area. They have a hijack success rate of 20.9 percent. In the first nine months of 2010, 682 people have been hijacked by Somali pirates.

Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the PLA Navy, said pirate attacks and equipment are improving even while it is getting more difficult for them to hijack ships.

Pirates have also modernized their attack tactics to include actually injuring targets. They are now equipped with many high-end technologies, such as speedboats, automatic rifles, grenade launchers, GPS navigators, marine satellite telephones and surface search radars.

Shipping companies have begun strengthening their capacity for self-protection, including providing crew with body armor and bulletproof helmets and fortifying ships with steel shelter.

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