BEIJING, March 17 -- Malaysia should play a better role in coordinating international search efforts for the missing flight MH370, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said here on Monday.

Hong told a daily press briefing, "The greater the search area becomes, the more difficult the search will be, so we have to come up with better ideas and methods."

He urged the Malaysian side to provide "comprehensive and correct information" as more countries try to track Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crew, including 154 Chinese.

By Monday, 26 countries were searching for the plane, compared with 14 last week. China has updated its embassies in the countries on latest developments.

"As long as there is a slim hope, the Chinese side is ready to make all out efforts in the search," Hong said, adding that China will actively cooperate with Malaysia and all other countries.

China is readjusting its search efforts. "The focus of China's search efforts is no longer just in the South China Sea," Hong said.

Malaysian official sources say the plane could be anywhere along a giant arc extending from Kazakhstan in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south.

"We have expressed hope that relevant countries helping with the search let us know as they provide information for Malaysia," Hong said.