BEIJING, Sept. 9 -- China on Tuesday welcomed the efforts by former Italian deputy foreign minister, De Mistura, to resolve the Syria crisis following his appointment as the new UN envoy.

Mistura was appointed in July by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to fill a vacancy left by Lakhdar Brahimi, who resigned in May.

A political solution is the sole way out of the crisis, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily news briefing.

Mistura will travel to Damascus for consultations with Syrian officials starting Tuesday, the envoy's first visit to Syria.

Hua said that China hopes Mistura will bring new motivation to the settlement of Syria issue, noting that China calls on the relevant parties in Syria to positively support the envoy and coordinate with him.

China hopes the relevant parties show their political will to resume dialogue and negotiations and find a "middle way" that considers Syria's national conditions and the interests of all parties.