Romanian Foreign Minister Dan Neculaescu met on Thursday with the family of Alina Apostol, a Romanian citizen serving a prison sentence in China, assuring them that the Foreign Ministry remains fully engaged in supporting her case.

'Through our consular network, we are closely monitoring the observance of all her rights, her detention conditions and her state of health, while maintaining constant dialogue with the relevant local authorities. Our efforts are coordinated with the Ministry of Justice within an institutional cooperation framework tailored to the specific nature of this case. As I said during the parliamentary hearings, at the Foreign Ministry we will intensify diplomatic efforts to resolve such difficult situations, and I will not take a single step back from dialogue on these issues,' Neculaescu wrote on Facebook.

Alina Apostol was sentenced in China in 2017, at the age of 28, to 13 and a half years in prison for bank card fraud and has since been incarcerated in Fujian Province. The court also ordered her to pay a fine and, jointly with two other individuals, compensation to the victims of the crime.

In March this year, the Bucharest Court of Appeal adjusted her sentence to the equivalent of nine years and four months under Romanian law and approved her transfer to Romania to serve the remainder of her sentence. Since then, Romanian authorities have been awaiting a response from China's Ministry of Justice in Beijing.

Under Chinese law, payment of the court-imposed fine and compensation is a mandatory condition for completing the transfer procedure.

Meanwhile, the Senate Foreign Policy Committee announced it will soon hold an official hearing on Apostol's case, with representatives of both the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry invited to attend.

'We are interested in changing the approach and increasing the effectiveness of Romania's efforts to repatriate Romanian citizen Alina Apostol, who is in an extremely difficult situation. Her family, which has already made significant financial sacrifices to pay the criminal fine imposed by the Chinese courts, needs to know that Romanian institutions can do a better job and that family reunification can take place much more quickly,' said Titus Corlatean, chairman of the Senate Foreign Policy Committee, according to a statement. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Andreea Rotaru; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)