China hopes situation in Iraq will be stabilized as early as possible, and the relevant parties will create favorable conditions for the election to be held as planned and the Chinese side will also make its due efforts to this end, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Tuesday.

At a regular press conference, Zhang said China is worried about casualties of innocent Iraqi civilians caused by the lingering turbulence in Iraq." She called for relevant parties to create favorable conditions for Iraq's election to be held as scheduled and the smooth progress of reconstruction and China expects the Iraqi people to live a peaceful, stable life at an earliest date.

Zhang also pledged China's efforts to make possible Iraq's election, which is slated for January 2005.

As to an international conference on Iraq due for Nov. 22-23 in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Zhang said that the Chinese government has designated Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Wang Guangya as the envoy to the meeting.

Iraq, Egypt, the Group of Eight, China, the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the European Union (EU) are expected to attend the meeting.

"China hopes the conference will help broaden the consensus of various parties and work for stabilizing Iraq's situation and push forward the process of its reconstruction," Zhang said.

An all-out assault on main urban areas of Iraq's rebel-held city of Fallujah was kicked off Monday evening by US forces, backed by Iraqi troops, and at the same time the state of emergency was imposed over most of Iraq with curfew in Fallujah and Ramadi, according to sources.