BEIJING, March 10 -- China called on the two warring parties in South Sudan to reach a settlement as soon as possible on Tuesday .

"We will continue to keep contact with mediating parties, such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), to jointly seek an early and proper settlement of the crisis," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei.

Ethiopian Prime Minister and the IGAD Chief mediator Hailemariam Desalegn has announced that the two conflicting parties in South Sudan had failed to reach a deal to end the ongoing violence which erupted in mid-December 2013.

"Currently, the South Sudan peace process has entered a crucial stage," Hong told a daily press briefing, urging the two warring parties to put the interest of the nation and its people first, and make the right political decision to reach reconciliation as soon as possible.

He warned the two parties not to miss the opportunity for peace.

The spokesperson also called for the international community to firmly back the IGAD's mediating efforts.

South Sudan plunged into violence when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Machar at the end of 2013.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to their flee homes.