This is the dramatic moment Chinese fishermen rescued Taiwan nationals whose boat caught fire while in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Crew of the Chinese fishing vessel Yong Fa 1 launched the rescue after seeing a distress signal from the Taiwanese fishing boat Hsiang Ching, which had burst into flames on November 6.

Footage shows billowing smoke coming from the burning ship, with its crew escaping on boats and waiting to be pulled aboard to safety.

In a statement, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency said that the Fisheries Monitoring Centre had received a report of the accident on November 6 at 11:50 am while the Hsiang Ching was located some 400 nautical miles east of Hokkaido's Kushiro port in Japan.

The agency said there were 49 crew members on the Taiwanese ship, with one Filipino still missing.

The 974-tonne vessel was focused on catching Pacific saury and squid. It had a 49-person crew consisting of two Taiwanese, three Chinese, 11 Indonesians, and 33 Filipinos, the statement added.