BEIJING: China said Thursday it would welcome a visit "in the near future" by the Libyan rebels trying to wrest power from strongman Moamer Qadhafi, as Beijing steps up contacts with both sides in the conflict.
Chinese diplomats have so far held two confirmed meetings with members of the National Transitional Council, the leadership body established by opposition forces in the eastern rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi.
"We are ready to receive a visit from NTC representatives in the near future," foreign ministry official Chen Xiaodong was quoted as saying Thursday by the official Xinhua news agency.
"We believe the current situation is untenable and it's time to come up with a solution."
The official did not specify when such a visit could take place.
A flurry of diplomatic activity seemed to indicate that China -- which has significant economic interests in Libya -- was stepping up its involvement in efforts to defuse the crisis there.
On Wednesday, China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi told his visiting Libyan counterpart that securing a ceasefire in the oil-rich north African state should be the "top priority" of both sides in the months-long conflict.
"It is a top priority for related parties to reach a ceasefire to avoid greater humanitarian disasters and solve the Libya crisis through political means," Yang said in talks with Libya's Abdelati al-Obeidi, Xinhua reported.
Yang told al-Obeidi that he hoped both Qadhafi's regime and the rebels fighting since February to end his more than four decades in power would "take to heart the basic interests of the country and the people," the report said.
The Chinese minister encouraged both sides to "start the political process to solve the crisis at an early date to safeguard regional peace and stability".
Yang also told al-Obeidi that China "opposes acts beyond the authorisation of the UN Security Council", Xinhua said.
Russia and China -- both veto-wielding members of the Council -- abstained from the Council vote in March that gave the go-ahead for international military action against Qadhafi's regime.
China has previously spoken of its concerns that the NATO-led bombing in Libya was overstepping a Council resolution authorising "humanitarian" intervention in the conflict.
Al-Obeidi arrived in China on Tuesday, and was due to leave Thursday.
When asked about a possible rebel visit, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday: "China is willing to stay in touch with parties in Libya and make concerted efforts toward a political resolution of the Libyan conflict."
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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