China has asked Vietnam to apologize to and compensate the Chinese tourist who was beaten by Vietnamese border defense officers, and take effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday.

Vietnam has suspended eight people involved in the attack on a Chinese tourist that happened more than a week ago, Geng said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

A Chinese tourist surnamed Xie was beaten by local border defense officers in MongCai on Feb 7 after he hesitated to pay a tip and was left with three broken ribs, Chinese media reported.

Geng said China has lodged multiple complaints with Vietnam over the attack.

The director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Consular Affairs met the Vietnamese ambassador to China on Thursday, while the Chinese ambassador to Vietnam has also met Vietnamese Foreign Ministry officials in Hanoi, Geng said.

China will continue to urge Vietnam to deal with this case thoroughly and properly, Geng said.