BEIJING - China has issued an alert for students going to the Philippines to study, citing safety concerns and increasing crimes committed toward Chinese nationals, the Ministry of Education said on Friday.

The ministry has reminded Chinese students to evaluate safety risks and raise precaution awareness before going to the country, according to an overseas study alert issued by the ministry.

It is rare for the ministry to issue such an alert. It issued an alert for Chinese students going to study in Ohio in the United States in April after it passed negative provisions regarding China in a higher education bill. The alerts before that date back to 2020 and 2021 toward Australia.