KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 -- The primary focus at this point is to speed up the search-and-rescue and investigation of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, Guo Shaochun, the head of a Chinese joint working group in charge of the incident said on Wednesday.

At a press conference held in the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Guo said that the Chinese working group had meetings with officials from the Malaysia Airlines and Emergency Operation Center.

"We called on them to listen carefully to the next of kin of the Chinese passengers and take swift actions to respond to the needs of the families," he said.

So far a total of 18 family members of the Chinese passengers have come to Malaysia and the Chinese joint working group had met all of them, closely listening to their appeals, he said.

He believed that the working group will work together with the Chinese embassy here to provide all necessary assistance to the families of the Chinese passengers.

The Chinese Joint working group expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Malaysian authorities, which sent 25 ships and about 20 planes successively for the around-the-clock search and rescue operations for the Malaysia Airlines jet, Guo said.

The Chinese side would like to keep close communication and coordination with the Malaysia authorities in the search and rescue operation, Guo added.

The whereabouts of flight MH 370, a Boeing 777-200, have been unknown since it suddenly vanished from radar early Saturday morning while carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Among the passengers, 154 are Chinese.