BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday held a phone conversation with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma, in which the two leaders exchanged views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.

The two leaders both said they felt satisfied with the development of bilateral ties and expressed their willingness to work together to deepen the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.

Zuma told Hu the efforts the African Union (AU) have made to peacefully solve the Libya issue.

Zuma said the AU has offered a road map on a political solution to the Libya issue and has been keeping contact with the two parties and others involved in the Libya conflict.

The AU would continue to communicate and coordinate with China and interested parties in a bid to peacefully resolve the Libya issue.

Hu said the situation in Libya has become the spotlight of the international community and the humanitarian crisis it had triggered was worrisome.

China has called for an immediate ceasefire among related parties and urged them to negotiate on peacefully solving the Libya crisis, solve the dispute in a political and peaceful way and restore a normal order through dialogue and negotiations, Hu said.

Libya's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected and its future should be decided by its people, so the international community should respect the choice made by the Libyan people, Hu said.

China hopes that Libya could adopt a more flexible and pragmatic attitude and seriously consider the peace plan proposed by the AU and other parties, considering the basic interests of the country and the people and safeguarding regional peace and stability as priority. The international community should also play a more active and constructive role on the issue, Hu said.

South Africa and the AU have played an important role in promoting a political solution to the Libya crisis, which demonstrated the determination of the African countries to stick to "African solutions to African problems", Hu said.

Hu added that China highly appreciated this and was willing to maintain close communications and coordination with South Africa and the AU on the Libya issue.