BEIJING - China expressed serious concern on Tuesday after its embassy in Libya was attacked by demonstrators, and urged Tripoli to adopt practical measures to guarantee the safety of Chinese people and institutions in the country.

"The Chinese Government has made representations to the Libyan side," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular news briefing. "And the Libyan side has expressed regret about the incident and promises to strengthen the embassy's security."

Syrian and Libyan demonstrators in Tripoli on Monday hurled rocks, eggs and tomatoes at the Chinese embassy, after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan urging Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to cede power, according to Reuters.

A similar incident took place on Sunday outside the Russian embassy.

China and Russia blocked a draft of a UN resolution on Saturday urging Assad to quit. China has already defended its veto, saying the vote was called before differences in the resolution were bridged.

Demonstrators said they wanted to take down the Chinese flag and replace it with the Syrian opposition's flag and the red, black and green flag of Libya's National Transitional Council, which came to power after a civil war last year that toppled Muammar Gadhafi's rule.

On the situation in Syria, Liu reiterated that China would continue to support the constructive and positive role played by the Arab League. "The Chinese people are friends of both the Syrian and the Arab peoples. We have always worked together and coordinated on all sorts of problems," Liu said.

China Daily