China called on the international community on Tuesday not to give up on negotiations to resolve a crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"We advocate appropriately resolving this issue through negotiation and peaceful means," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news briefing.

"The international community should not forsake peaceful negotiation and any measures should be conducive to that goal."

His comments came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he did not expect U.N. sanctions to be imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme and vowed to press ahead with uranium enrichment.

Spokesman Qin also reiterated China's call on all sides to maintain restraint and exercise flexibility.