"The Chinese envoy firmly condemned Israeli aggression against Lebanon, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent victims," it said.

China is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which meets in New York later Tuesday to discuss a draft resolution aimed at bringing a halt to the conflict between Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

As a permanent council member, China has the power to veto any draft resolution.

SANA said Bijan expressed "the wish of his country to be kept informed on Damascus's position with regard to current developments and the debate at the UN Security Council".

Bijan made his comments during a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Maqdad.

"The two parties are convinced of the need for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon," the news agency added.

Bijan arrived in Damascus on Monday as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territories and Israel.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.