China opposed Israel's new settlement plan in East Jerusalem, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday.

Jiang made the remarks when commenting on Israel's bid to add about 700 new apartments in East Jerusalem at a regular news briefing.

"The final status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, " Jiang said. "It can only be based on relevant UN resolutions and should be properly resolved through bilateral political negotiations."

Israeli Construction and Housing Ministry is seeking bids for construction of 692 new apartments in East Jerusalem, a ministry spokesman said on Monday, adding the home construction in three Jewish communities was expected to be finished in two to three years.

"China urged Israel to act cautiously and make positive response to the international community's efforts to promote peace and create conditions for early resumption of peace talks," said Jiang.

The peace talks on final status issues had completely stopped last December after Israel insisted to expand settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2009)