China Monday urged parties involved in disputes over the sinking of a Republic of Korean (ROK) naval warship to exercise restraint to avoid the escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula.

China hopes the parties will maintain calmness and restraint and properly deal with relevant issues, Chinese spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said during the second round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogues (S&ED) Monday in Beijing.

He said the Chinese and U.S. sides touched upon many important international and regional issues during the talks, including the issue of the sunken Cheonan corvette.

Ma, spokesman for the S&ED's strategic track talks, told the press that China had been highly concerned about the development of the warship sinking issue and had clearly expressed its stance on the matter.

"China has always been committed to maintaining the stability in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula, promoting the six-party talks and denuclearization of the Peninsula," said Ma.

He added that international and regional matters such as the sinking of the warship should be handled in an objective and fair manner and based on facts.

The ROK unveiled Monday a series of punitive measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), less than one week after an international team of investigators invited by the ROK announced their findings and blamed DPRK for sinking the warship in late March, which killed 46 sailors, in a torpedo attack.

Pyongyang has denied any involvement and threatened an "all-out war" in case sanction was imposed.