China once again urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany to enhance dialogue and cooperation with Iran to resolve the country's nuclear issue.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying was responding to a question about the UN nuclear watchdog's latest report, which said Iran is expanding its nuclear capacity by installing more centrifuges at an underground enrichment plant.

According to the report, which was released on Friday, nearly 2,800 centrifuges have been installed at the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, deep inside a mountainous region, near the city of Qom. This is an increase of about 644 centrifuges identified in a previous report, released in August.

The report highlights concerns about activities at Parchin site, a military base, where UN investigations were banned by Iran. The report stressed that the ongoing activities at the site would seriously undermine IAEA's verification.

Noting the report Hua said, "China has always considered that dialogue and cooperation is the only right way to properly resolve the Iranian nuclear issue."

The spokesperson said the top priority is that the five permanent members and Germany stick to talks and the IAEA enhances cooperation with Iran to achieve progress at an early date, so as to seek a comprehensive, long-term and appropriate solution.

China hopes all parties concerned could make constructive efforts to this end, Hua said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2012)