A boat with Chinese nationals on board, sank off the Preah Sihanouk Province in southwestern Cambodia on Thursday evening, the Chinese embassy in Cambodia confirmed on Friday.

According to the embassy, after it received information from the Cambodian police about the shipwreck involving Chinese people, Ambassador Wang Wentian immediately deployed staff to contact the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense, the police department, the provincial government and other relevant authorities to request rescuing people.

Li Jie, counselor and consul general of the embassy, rushed to Preah Sihanouk on Thursday night to coordinate relevant rescue operations.

The search and rescue operations are underway, according to the embassy. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China and Cambodia are in close communication over the incident. 

China has asked the Cambodian side to make all-out search and rescue efforts, Wang said at the ministry's regular press briefing.

"We are doing everything we can to find out more about the details of the incident and verify them as quickly as we can," he said.