China said Wednesday that 25 Chinese workers captured by Egyptian locals demanding the release of their Islamist relatives had been released, state media reported.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted an official at the Chinese embassy in Egypt as saying the workers were freed by their abductors, and that they were in good condition, but gave no other details in its brief dispatch.

China's foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

The Chinese nationals -- technicians and engineers who work for a military-owned cement factory in central Sinai -- were abducted on Tuesday on their way to work, an Egyptian security official said.

The protesters were demanding the release of five Bedouins held in connection with an attack on the tourist resort of Taba in 2004, part of a series of bombings claimed by an Islamist group.

The incident comes days after 29 Chinese workers in Sudan were captured by rebels who attacked their camp in the volatile South Kordofan state, where they were involved in a road-building project. They have still not been released.