BEIJING, March 8 -- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng met on Saturday afternoon with envoys of Malaysia and Vietnam over the missing Malaysian flight bound for Beijing with more than 150 Chinese nationals on board.

In his meeting with Malaysian Charge d'affaires to China Bala Chandran Tharman and Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho, Xie said China is paying close attention to the safety of the passengers on board and has initiated all-out rescue work.

He called on Malaysia and Vietnam to try their best in rescue work, inform the Chinese side passengers' relatives of the latest developments and provide as much convenience as possible in the emergency and rescue work.

Chandran Tharman and Nguyen Van Tho said they would like to work closely with China and do their best on rescue work.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China has been informed by Vietnamese civil aviation authorities that Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore are conducting a joint search for the missing plane south of Vietnam's Tho Chu Islands.

Contact was lost with the plane while it was en route to Beijing.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 12:41 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Saturday, and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day.