BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission(CMC) Fan Changlong on Wednesday told Chinese rescuers to prepare for protracted search for the missing Malaysian plane MH370.

After being briefed about the latest progress, Fan asked search teams to cooperate with international efforts and improve their operations.

On behalf of CMC and its chairman Xi Jinping, Fan extended greetings to the navy and air force troops engaged in the search and called on them to go all out to find the missing plane.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER, went missing on its way to Beijing on March 8, shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. The plane was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, including 154 Chinese.