In a telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Premier Wen said he hoped Darfur would be able to "soon realise peace, stability and development," according to a statement on the Chinese Foreign Ministry Web site (http://www.fmprc.gov.cn).

China has been "making constructive efforts to this end", Wen told Brown, listing the steps Beijing has taken in the western part of Sudan, where government-linked militia have fought rebel groups, killing and displacing many civilians in recent years.

"We're willing with Britain to continue making ceaseless efforts to appropriately resolve the Darfur issue," Wen said.

China also announced that its envoy to Darfur, Liu Guijin, would travel to Britain and Sudan in coming days.

China's diplomatic push came after its role in Sudan came into a harsh spotlight last week, when Hollywood director Steven Spielberg quit as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, claiming that China had failed to use enough of its sway with Khartoum to press for peace in Darfur.

China is a leading oil customer and supplier of weapons to Sudan, and critics accuse Beijing of providing diplomatic cover for Khartoum as it stonewalls international efforts to send peacekeepers into Darfur.

But Wen said China had played an important role in advancing peace efforts in Darfur, including promoting contacts between Sudan, the African Union and the United Nations, and quickly sending peacekeeping troops and humanitarian aid to Darfur.

Envoy Liu, who has been closely involved in raising China's profile in addressing the conflict in Darfur, will go to Britain on February 21 en route to Sudan on February 24, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular news conference.

Spokesman Liu said patient negotiation was the way to defuse the conflict, which international experts estimate has killed 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes. Khartoum says 9,000 people have died there.

"We believe that with the active efforts of the international community, including China, the Darfur issue has achieved positive progress," the spokesman said. "Pressure should not be used, to avoid making the situation even more complicated."

Not enough was being done to encourage rebel groups in Darfur to join peace talks with Khartoum, Liu said, urging other countries to use their sway with the rebels to encourage talks.