A Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that China backs the Arab League's (AL) efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis in Syria.

"China supports the AL's efforts to end the crisis in Syria and has called on concerned parties to implement the AL's resolution at an early date and in a substantial and appropriate way," spokesman Liu Weimin said during a routine press conference in Beijing.

Under the resolution, activities conducted by Syria's delegation to the pan-Arab body will be suspended effective Wednesday. The AL has also called on its members to withdraw their ambassadors in Syria and urged sanctions on Damascus until a peace plan that it brokered is implemented.

"Concerned parties should make concerted efforts and the international community should create favorable conditions for the implementation process," Liu added.

He also called on relevant parties, including the Syrian government, to cease violence and start a balanced political process as soon as possible in order to carry out the AL's resolution.

The 22-nation Arab League convened an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday to weigh the possibility of undertaking harsher measures against the Syrian regime following its alleged breach of a plan to bring the months-old crisis in Syria to a close.

The AL plan calls for stopping violence and withdrawing military vehicles from Syrian streets in addition to releasing detainees and holding a dialogue between Syrian authorities and the opposition at the AL headquarters.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Syrians took part in massive rallies held across Syria to express discontent with the AL's decision to suspend the activities of the Syrian delegation to the pan-Arab body.