On June 30, 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the debut ceremony for China's Guide to Consular Protection and Assistance 2008 (Illustration) and theme foldouts. Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Hongbo addressed the ceremony. He said Beijing will hold the Olympics this year. The ministry released related publicity materials before the Olympics to carry out preventative work in advance in a bid to remind overseas citizens of increasing prevention awareness, improving self-protection ability, reducing the occurrence of security incidents, abiding by the laws of China and the host countries, staying in harmony with local people, maintaining China's image and contributing to the holding of a safe and secure Olympics. This measure is an important embodiment of the concept of "putting people first and diplomacy for the people". Through this effort, we hope to implement the important instructions of the leaders of CPC Central Committee on strengthening the security work for Chinese citizens and agencies abroad, protect their legitimate rights and interests, and enable them to embrace a safe and secure Olympics in a harmonious and happy mood. After a short presentation, Wu presented the foldouts to the representatives of foreign agencies and tourists agencies and accepted an interview with the media.

The Guide 2008 (Illustration) is based upon the text version of China's Guide to Consular Protection and Assistance 2007 and added some cartoon illustrations and color pages, which increased its attractiveness and readability. The ministry also released publicity foldouts in 10 themes: tourism, business, studying abroad, labor, denied entry, detention, accidents, being missing, death abroad, and criminal offense. The foldouts are an extension of the Guide. They are more targeted. They explain the rights and obligations of citizens, what consular officials can do and cannot do, and special cautions by covering different groups, different scenarios and different cases. The goal is to provide detailed, practical, easy-to-understand, simple and targeted guide and assistance for Chinese citizens abroad.

After the debut ceremony, the Guide 2008 and publicity foldouts will be sent to Chinese diplomatic missions abroad and foreign affairs offices of all the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities for distribution. There will be a total of 800,000 handbooks to be distributed. Chinese citizens both at home and abroad can download these materials from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.