China and Arab League meet to discuss Syria

China said today that an envoy has held talks with the head of the Arab League on the crisis in Syria.

The meeting comes after Beijing vetoed a UN resolution which would have pressured Syria's President Bashar Assad to step down.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry today said Li Huaxin had travelled to Cairo in Egypt, where he held "extremely frank and useful" talks with Arab League secretary-general Nabil Elaraby yesterday.

China along with Russia vetoed the UN resolution more than a week ago. They say it was called before differences in the proposal were bridged.

The veto drew widespread criticism, including from the Arab League, which has been pushing regional efforts to end 11 months of bloodshed in Syria.

"China and Arab countries have a very traditional friendship and co-operative relationship, and maintain close communication and co-ordination on political affairs,'' Mr Li said in the statement.

"Given the constantly escalating Syrian situation, the aim of this visit to Cairo was to explain China’s position and policies to the Arab League and Arab countries, and listen to their opinions."

President Assad’s regime has cracked down hard since the uprising began last March.

More than 5,400 people have been killed, according to a UN estimate in January.

Yesterday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it backed Arab League mediation efforts in Syria but refused to say if it supported its call to send in peacekeepers to stop the fighting.

The Arab League has asked the UN Security Council to authorise a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping mission to Syria.

China’s stance on Syria is expect to come up later today when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping meets US President Barack Obama at the White House.