China has urged Syria to speed up reforms, in a sign that it may be losing patience with the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China did not "want to see more bloodshed, conflict and casualties".
Russia has made a similar plea, telling Mr Assad to implement reforms or go.
Both Russia and China infuriated the West last week after vetoing a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for the crackdown on protesters.
The European-drafted proposal had already been watered down to try to avoid the vetoes, with a direct reference to sanctions against Damascus dropped.
But Moscow and Beijing said the draft contained no provision against outside military intervention in Syria.
Read more at the BBC
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