China announced on Thursday it would not attend the so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting in Paris, just few days before Russia’s declaration it would also boycott the conference.

China announced on Thursday it would not attend the so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting in Paris, just few days before Russia’s declaration it would also boycott the conference.

"(China) at present does not consider attending the meeting," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters when asked about a French invitation to be involved in the event that is due to take place on Friday.

The Paris meeting follows one in Tunis in February and another in April in Istanbul. The conference aims at “coordinating Western and Arab efforts to stop violence in the country.”
The United States, France, Britain, Germany, along with Arab nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are leaders of the "Friends of Syria".

The group has more than 60 members, including most of the EU states and many Arab League countries.
But Russia has said it will stay away from the Paris meeting after accusing the West of seeking to distort a weekend deal by world powers in Geneva aimed at achieving a transition of power.

China backed Russia in Geneva on insisting that Syrians must decide how the transition should be carried out, rather than allow others to dictate their fate, and did not rule out Assad remaining in power in some form.
China did not attend the previous two "Friends of Syria" meetings.