BEIJING - China officially expressed its support for Russia's new resolution on the unrest in Syria presented to the UN Security Council, a foreign ministry's spokesman said on Monday.

"China appreciates the constructive efforts that Russia made to solve the Syrian crisis, and China is willing to maintain contact in the future with all parties," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at the daily news conference.

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, circulated an updated draft of the resolution to the UN Security Council during a closed-door meeting on Dec 15, as the country is holding the rotating Security Council presidency in December. The measures condemn the violence by all parties in Syria, without calling for sanctions.

The draft, although still not strong enough in the eyes of Western powers, offers a basis for further negotiations.

"We're going to study the draft carefully," said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "It's just that we have differences in how they are approaching it ... But we hope to be able to work with them."

China believes the discussion by the UN Security Council about the unrest in Syria will "help ease the tensions, push for further political dialogue, resolve conflicts and contribute to peace in the Middle East and the area's stability", according to Liu.

"If the Syrian crisis is not solved within two weeks, the matter would be beyond the control of Arab countries," Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who also chairs an Arab ministerial committee in charge of handling the Syrian crisis, said at a televised news conference on Saturday.

China hopes the Syrian crisis will be resolved within the framework of the Arab League and that the resolution can avoid outside interference. China welcomes the efforts made by the Arab League to open the political process, Liu said.

Russia's new draft reflects the dissatisfaction with the lack of dialogue between the Syrian government and its opposition parties, considering the internal deadlock of the country, according to Xing Guangcheng, an expert on Russian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"China and Russia have much strategic cooperation in this aspect to ensure the peace of the area, and share the common vision that the deadlock should not be interfered by outside powers," he said.

Zheng Yangpeng and Xinhua contributed to this story.