China has evacuated several hundred workers from Libya and is taking them by ship to Malta, the head of the Malta Civil Service, Mario Cutajar, said on Wednesday. He said the Maltese government was arranging temporary accommodation for the workers and was preparing for the eventuality of a bigger evacuation from the North African country if the unrest there continues to grow. Cutajar is heading a crisis centre to cater for the fallout of the situation in Libya. Earlier on Wednesday, the Philippines said it had chartered a ship to take up to 1,000 Filipinos to Malta. Cutajar said 150 foreign workers, mostly Filipinos, had arrived in Malta on Tuesday on flights from Mitiga airport near Tripoli.