BEIJING - Chinese naval escort squads to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters have completed 409 missions and escorted 4,411 Chinese and foreign vessels over the past three years.

To date, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has sent 10 batches of escort fleets with 25 vessels, 22 helicopters and more than 8,400 officers and soldiers to this area, Wu Shengli, commander of the PLA Navy, said at a forum on the escort missions held Wednesday.

The fleets have rescued 40 ships from pirates' pursuits, taken care of eight vessels that were attacked and released by the pirates, and offered humanitarian aid to foreign vessels four times, Wu said.

The fleets also escorted four ships delivering humanitarian supplies for the World Food Programme and provided adequate protection to the ships and the crewmembers, Wu said.