* China calls for safe return of abducted, missing worker
* Beijing faces expectations it can wield influence to protect citizens
* China has major interests in oil and infrastructure in Sudan
(Adds Chinese vice minister’s comments, report on Egypt abductions)
By Chris Buckley
BEIJING, Jan 31 (Reuters) - China urged Sudan on Tuesday to seek urgently the release of 29 Chinese workers held by rebels in the border state of South Kordofan, declaring that it was "shocked" by their abduction.
The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng summoned a senior diplomat at Sudan’s embassy in Beijing to deliver the message, the official Xinhua news agency said in a bulletin.
In a separate incident, Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt’s Sinai region kidnapped 25 mostly Chinese cement factory workers on Tuesday, demanding that authorities free fellow Bedouin from prison, sources from the tribe said.
China’s message to Sudan underscored the pressure that China faces to secure the safe return of the abducted construction workers, as did its announcement earlier on Tuesday that it had sent officials from the Foreign Ministry and other agencies to Sudan the previous day to "assist in rescue work".
The workers’ plight has attracted widespread attention in China and any deaths could become a more serious headache for the government, which Chinese citizens assume can wield its influence to protect nationals abroad.
"The Chinese government attaches much importance to protecting citizens abroad and feels shocked about this abduction incident," said Xie, the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, according to the ministry’s website (.cn).
South Kordofan is the main oil-producing state in Sudan. The SPLM is the ruling party in newly independent South Sudan, which broke off from its northern neighbour. South Sudan denies supporting SPLM-North rebels across the border.
SPLM-North is one of a number of rebel movements in underdeveloped border areas that say they are fighting to overthrow Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and end what they see as the dominance of the Khartoum political elite.
(Additional reporting by staff in Egypt; Editing by Ken Wills and Robert Birsel)
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