The Sudanese military has freed 14 Chinese workers "kidnapped" by rebels in the country's South Kordofan state, the official SUNA news agency reported on Monday.

"SAF troops succeeding in freeing 14 of the Chinese workers," SUNA quoted state governor Ahmad Harun as saying.

Harun said the Chinese were in good condition and had been taken to nearby El Obeid in neighbouring North Kordofan.

The fate of other Chinese reported captured with the group was not immediately clear.

China confirmed on Sunday that some of its nationals had "gone missing" after rebels on Saturday attacked the camp of a Chinese company, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

It quoted an embassy official as saying more than 20 Chinese were missing, a figure also given by a senior executive at Power Construction Corp of China, their employer.

Rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) told AFP they had captured 29 Chinese.

Neither the rebels nor Chinese embassy officials could be reached on Monday.