BEIJING - To better protect Chinese companies and citizens abroad, the country has created a website containing overseas security information.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the activation of the website, cs.mfa.gov.cn, on Tuesday, saying it is among a series of measures being taken to make Chinese citizens safer abroad.

The website will collect consular information from the Foreign Ministry's department of consular affairs, Chinese embassies overseas and local governments' foreign-affairs offices, said Huang Ping, head of the department of consular affairs.

It will also provide information about overseas security, consular news, consular protection and subjects concerning Chinese citizens and companies overseas, he said.

This year has been an eventful one for consular services.

At the beginning of 2011, China moved nearly 40,000 Chinese citizens out of Libya in the 10 days following the eruption of a revolt in that country.

Then in March, China managed to move hordes of people out of Japan after that country had been hit by an earthquake and a tsunami.

Those successes aside, questions over China's ability to provide security arose after Chinese citizens had become the victims of several prominent crimes abroad.

On Oct 5, two Chinese merchant vessels came under attack on the Mekong River near the Thai-Myanmar border, leaving the 13 crew members aboard dead.

To prevent something similar from happening, China plans to work with its Southeast Asian neighbors to have armed patrols cruise the Mekong River, the Ministry of Public Security said two weeks ago.

"As more Chinese people and companies are going abroad, they will face complicated security threats," Huang said. "That presents large difficulties for us, especially since we don't have a lot of personnel to work on this."