China reacted after the Security Council passed a resolution Saturday that mandated sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

"We hope the UN resolution is carried out in an earnest fashion, but we also think sanctions are not the objective and cannot fundamentally resolve the issue," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.

"China wants... to see a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through talks," he said in the statement, posted on the ministry's website.

The state-controlled China Daily newspaper Monday also supported further negotiations, arguing a peaceful solution was in the interest of all parties concerned.

"It would save the issue (from) becoming a new source of instability from the Middle East," the paper said in an editorial.

Following the decision at the UN Security Council, a defiant Iran vowed Sunday to start work immediately on drastically expanding its capacity to enrich uranium.

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