Visiting China's special envoy on Middle East issues Sun Bigan met in Jerusalem with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the two exchanged views on bilateral ties and the situation in the Middle East.

Sun expressed his hope that Israel and the Palestinians could restart the peace talks based on relative UN resolutions and the principle of "land for peace" as soon as possible, thus to advance the Middle East peace process.

For her part, Livni expressed her appreciation of the development of Israeli-Chinese relations and the important role China has played in promoting peace in the Middle East as well as other international issues.

Sun arrived in Israel earlier on Wednesday, starting his second visit to Israel in three months. He is also expected to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres on Thursday.

On Friday, Sun will travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2007)