The description given by Islamic State insurgents of a Chinese citizen they claim to have captured matches a Chinese missing abroad, the Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday.

"We launched an emergency response immediately after we were informed of the situation," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a regular press briefing.

China is firmly opposed to violence against innocent civilians, he said.

IS announced on Wednesday that it had captured a Chinese consultant and a Norwegian man. They were identified in a report in its official online magazine, Dabiq, as Fan Jinghui, a freelance consultant from Beijing, and Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad from Oslo.

(Xinhua)