China hopes that all the relevant parties involved in the Iran nuclear issue will maintain patience and be flexible so as to avoid complicating the matter, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said on Tuesday.

In a meeting with a visiting special envoy of the Iranian government, Javad Larijani, Li said China has always maintained that the Iran nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomatic channels and the Chinese side will continue to play a constructive role.

Larijani spoke positively of Iran-China relations and said that Iran is willing to continue negotiations and dialogue to solve the nuclear issue.

The two also discussed the further enhancement of diplomatic ties.

Also on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said at a regular press conference that China supports Iran-Russia negotiations on the nuclear issue and believes that Russia's proposal is a "helpful" attempt to break the current stalemate.

China hopes that negotiations between Iran and Russia will achieve progress as soon as possible, he added. He said China believes that there is still room for solving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomatic means, and hopes that Iran would fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and take measures which help increase mutual trust and create conditions necessary for the settlement of the issue.

Qin added that China advocates maintaining the seriousness and authority of the international non-proliferation mechanism.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2006)