Tehran, PIN, 12/04/2010

TEHRAN (Shana) : China has made clear to the United States and four other world powers that it dislikes a proposed ban on new investments in Iran's energy sector as part of a new round of U.N. sanctions, diplomats said on Sunday, according to a report by Reuters from New York.

diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Chinese U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong indicated his displeasure at the proposals affecting Iran's energy sector during the 3-hour meeting with his U.S., British, French, German and Russian counterparts on Thursday.

"In general, the Chinese ambassador did not want to discuss specifics of the text," a diplomat said, referring to a U.S. sanctions proposal that is the basis of talks among the six.

"The first meeting in New York was for an initial exchange of views on the U.S. draft," the diplomat added. Another envoy confirmed his comments.

The Chinese did convey the impression that Beijing had problems with the proposals regarding Iran's energy sector, a diplomat said.

"It was perceived that the Chinese do not agree with the energy proposals," one of the diplomats said.

Those proposals include a ban on new investments in Iran's energy industry, several diplomats have told Reuters. The U.S. draft does not include a call for import or export restrictions on Iran's oil and gas industries, as some in the United States and Israel had hoped for, the diplomats said.

Li told reporters after last week's 3-hour meeting of the six powers that it was "a very constructive negotiation." He said the group planned to meet again this week.