( CNN ) -- More than two dozen Chinese construction workers abducted in Sudan have been released , the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday . The 29 workers flew out of Sudan aboard a Red Cross plane bound for Nairobi , Kenya , a statement from the ICRC said . Rebels kidnapped the workers January 28 from a camp run by China 's Power Construction Corp. in volatile South Kordofan . Eighteen other workers in the camp escaped the raid , which the Sudanese military blamed on the Sudan People 's Liberation Movement-North -- a rebel force in the border region with neighboring South Sudan . One worker died in the raid , according to Xinhua , China 's official news agency . Sudanese authorities handed over the worker 's body Tuesday , Xinhua said . The workers were released after what Xinhua described as `` a stream of intensive rescue efforts carried out by the Chinese government in collaboration with the Sudanese government and other parties . '' The Al-Adhdath daily newspaper in Khartoum earlier said the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) had mediated for the release . South Sudan became the world 's newest nation last year after decades of conflict with the north . Nevertheless , violence in South Kordofan and the nearby Blue Nile states has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes . While the region is in Sudanese territory , it straddles Sudan and South Sudan 's ethnic and political lines . China is Sudan 's largest trading partner , while Sudan is China 's third-largest trading partner in Africa . According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry , trade between the two countries reached $ 8.63 billion in 2010 , an increase of 35.1 % compared with the previous year . The close bilateral cooperation is mainly driven by oil exports from Sudan , which is among the top oil suppliers for China .
Chinese hostages are freed in Sudan ; they 're now on the way to Kenya . The body of one worker killed in the rebel raid on their camp is returned to Chinese officials . The 29 Chinese workers were abducted from a construction site January 28 .