China on Tuesday called on all parties in Syria to show the "utmost restraint" and abandon violence to avoid further escalating the situation and causing more casualties.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China has been highly attentive to the situation in Syria, and China believes that the crisis in Syria should be reconciled through promptly opening up an inclusive political process with Syria playing the leading role.

All parties in Syria should peacefully and properly address the problems through dialogue and negotiation, the spokesman said.

"The future of Syria should be decided by the country's own choice," he said.

Relevant actions taken by the international community should be conducive to driving the Syrian government to implement reform commitments and encouraging all sides to participate in the political process in a constructive manner, he said.

All efforts "should be conducive to pushing forward stability in Syria at an early date," he said.

Syria has been in a state of unrest since anti-government protests broke out in the southern province of Daraa and spread to other cities in mid-March.

To quell the unprecedented anti-government crisis in the country, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad recently introduced a package of new measures to ease the government's hold on politics and the economy, including lifting the controversial state of emergency imposed in the county for around 50 years and granting general amnesty.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, on Tuesday al-Assad issued the law of the local administration, providing for the decentralization of authority and concentrating power and responsibilities in the hands of the public.

The law is the second aimed at reform issued in 24 hours. It follows a decree issued by the president on Monday providing for the formation of a multi-party committee that will be entrusted with the authority to give the final say on applications to form parties or amend their internal systems.

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