CANBERRA, April 28 -- China will continue to provide adequate resources for the search of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Chinese ambassador Ma Zhaoxu said here Monday.

Beijing also hopes that other countries will continue to contribute to the hunt, he said at a joint press conference with Angus Houston, chief of the Australian Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC).

Ma made the pledge and appeal shortly after Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that the search of the missing Boeing 777 aircraft will enter a new phase with contractors scouring a much larger area of the ocean floor.

During the transitional period, four ships and U.S. submarine drone Bluefin-21 will continue the search at sea and underwater to maintain continuity, according to Houston.

No debris has been found 52 days after the plane vanished with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.