China on Thursday urged Iran to make early response to the EU's package proposal to resolve the nuclear issue, while also calling the international community to show patience and restraint.

"We hope Iran would be highly attentive to the concerns of the international community, take a positive attitude and make a formal response to the package proposal at an early date," China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

"We also hope that all the other parties would show the utmost patience and restraint, continue to take a constructive attitude to create a favorable atmosphere and conditions for the resumption of negotiations," she said.

Jiang said the proposal by several EU countries, had created a precious opportunity for solving the Iran nuclear issue through negotiations.

"We believe the resumption of negotiations on the Iran nuclear issue as soon as possible is the common aspiration of the international community and serves the interests of all parties, including Iran," she said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Iran would respond by mid-August to the proposals presented to Tehran in early June by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Source: Xinhua