BEIJING - China has again called for an immediate end to the violence in Syria and a resolution to the crisis under the Arab League, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

The Syrian crisis should be resolved within the framework of the Arab League, as this method is in accordance with the common interests of Syria, Arab countries and the international community as a whole, spokesman Liu Weimin said at a news briefing on Friday.

"China has paid close attention to the current situation in Syria and calls on Syria to initiate a tolerant and balanced political process to ease the situation," he said.

Liu said China expects the Arab League and Syria to strengthen their communication and coordination in order to properly resolve relevant issues from the perspective of the fundamental interests of the Syrian people as well as the peace and stability of the Middle East.

The international community should also provide help, he added.

The Arab League served Syria a notice on Friday to endorse a plan to send observers to monitor the unrest in the country or face crippling sanctions. If Syria fails to sign the plan, finance ministers will meet on Saturday to vote on sanctions against Damascus, including the suspension of flights and the freezing of the government's financial assets, it said.

Liu also said BRICS countries (China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa) have called on all parties concerned to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the countries in the Middle East region and warned against foreign intervention without UN backing.

"The BRICS countries oppose the interference by foreign forces in the internal affairs of the countries in the region. The countries maintain that the UN Security Council should play an active role, and all the parties should strictly implement the resolutions by the Security Council," said Liu, citing a joint communique released after consultations among the deputy foreign ministers of BRICS countries on Thursday in Moscow.

The Arab League's ultimatum was issued on Friday at the end of a crisis meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo, during which the 22-member bloc also for the first time called on the United Nations to help resolve the crisis.

Turkey said the 1 pm local time deadline was Syria's "last chance" to heed world calls for an end to the violence in the country, which the UN says has claimed thousands of lives since mid-March. "It is a last chance, a new chance for Syria," Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul as the clock ticked down.

But Russia dismissed the looming deadline.

"At this stage, what we need is not resolutions, sanctions or pressure, but inter-Syrian dialogue," said Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

France has become the first major Western power to seek international intervention.

On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called for possible "humanitarian corridors" in Syria to help transport humanitarian supplies to local civilians. A source at the Arab League said the proposal was not brought up at the Cairo meeting, according to Reuters.

Juppe insisted the plan fell short of a military intervention, but acknowledged that humanitarian convoys would need armed protection.

Xinhua, AFP and Reuters contributed to this story.