BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Overseas Chinese nationals have always been close to the heart of the motherland since the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday.

To ensure the safety and health of Chinese nationals, the foreign ministry as well as Chinese embassies and consulates all over the world have taken swift actions and launched an unprecedented campaign to provide consular protection to Chinese nationals, Wang said on the sidelines of the annual national legislative session.

China has managed to hand over 1 million health kits to overseas Chinese students in need, Wang said.

In March and April alone, an average of over 3,600 phone calls were handled daily by the consular protection hotline "12308," which has been in 24-hour service to keep channels open for Chinese citizens abroad, he said.