China on Monday said it respects the legitimate status of President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) while calling on Palestinian forces to end conflicts.

"The Chinese government respects the legitimate status of President Abbas and the Palestinian National Authority," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Qin said China "strongly calls for Palestinian factions to end conflicts and solve their concerns through dialogue and consultations so as to safeguard the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people."

The 12th Palestinian government, an emergency one, was sworn in before President Abbas in West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, replacing the two-month-old unity government led by Hamas.

On Thursday, Abbas sacked the Palestinian government led by Hamas after he considered Hamas attacks against Palestinian Authority facilities in Gaza as a coup.

Independent Salam Fayyad was then asked to set up the emergency government one day after Abbas' decision to dismantle the unity government, which took office on March 17.

However, Hamas rejected Abbas' decision to sack the unity government and considered the emergency government as "illegitimate."

Source: Xinhua