President Hu Jintao called on his Iranian counterpart yesterday to engage in serious dialogue with other world powers and show flexibility in resolving disputes triggered by Tehran's nuclear programme.
Hu made the remarks to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a bilateral meeting in Beijing.
In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held talks with Iran but failed to reach a deal on allowing greater access for inspectors to its nuclear programme.
'There has been no progress,' the International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts said after a day of talks with Iran's envoy to the IAEA, adding that this was disappointing.
Iran is expected to head into another round of nuclear talks in Moscow on June 18 with the so-called P5+1 group - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - after a previous round in Baghdad last month.
'New progress has been made during the talks in Baghdad,' Hu said at the meeting, adding that Iran should weigh up the situation.
On Thursday, Ahmadinejad told Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Beijing that Iran had no intention of building nuclear weapons, but fear would not deter it if it decided to make them - suggesting a toughening of Iran's position.