SHANGHAI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here Tuesday afternoon that the resolution on the Darfur issue is now "at a crucial moment" and he hoped relevant parties should start political peace talks as soon as possible.

    Wen made the remarks in his meeting with significant participants of the African Development Bank annual meetings in Shanghai.

    The international community should continue to conduct consultation with the Sudanese government on an equal footing and urges all relevant parties to start political peace talks as soon as possible, Wen said.

    Wen pointed out that helping people in the Darfur region realize peaceful coexistence and embark on a development route is in conformity with the interests of the people in Sudan and Africa. It is also the basic starting point for China to deal with this issue, Wen said.

    Wen reiterated that the Chinese government has always been working actively on the resolution of the Darfur issue. China has not only provided humanitarian assistance to the Darfur region, but also repeatedly sent special envoys to the region.

    China has also designated a special envoy on African affairs and decided to dispatch a 275-member multifunctional engineering troop to participate in the implementation of the second phase of the Annan proposal.

    The Annan proposal, put forward by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is a three-phase support plan aimed at deploying a combination of African Union and UN peacekeeping force in the Darfur region.

    China has maintained that the Darfur issue should be resolved through dialogue and consultation on equal footing.