HAIKOU, May 20 -- The first group of Chinese workers hit by violence in Vietnam arrived at a port in Haikou on Tuesday morning.

After nearly 20 hours of travel, a total of 989 Chinese workers, mainly from five Chinese companies, arrived at Xiuying Port of Haikou in China's southmost province of Hainan at around 9:11 a.m.

There were red banners with the words "Welcome Home" at the port. The exhausted evacuees went ashore with their baggage.

"We finally returned home!" said Yu Jianwu, a returned worker from a Chinese energy enterprise. "We felt at ease after boarding the vessel."

According to Zhou Wenxiong, deputy director of the transport department of Hainan Province, the local government and relevant enterprises have made arrangements for groups of riot-hit Chinese workers.

He said they will go home by air, passenger liner or train in the afternoon. The economic losses of Chinese enterprises in Vietnam are still being tallied.

At around 11:25 a.m., another 919 Chinese nationals arrived at Xiuying Port. Another two vessels will return by Tuesday afternoon with 1,645 Chinese evacuees.

The Chinese government sent four vessels on Sunday to evacuate riot-stricken Chinese workers in Vietnam, where severe violence targeting foreign companies since May 13 has left two Chinese nationals dead and more than 100 others injured.

Major Chinese travel agencies have called off their Vietnam tours, and a foreign ministry spokesman has said China will suspend some of its plans for bilateral exchanges with Vietnam after the deadly riots.