In its first reaction to the death of the Chinese national and up to three other UN observers in Tuesday's strike on the Lebanese border town of Khiam, China also called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict.

"The Chinese side is deeply shocked and strongly condemns this," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement on the strike, adding it had killed "many innocent victims".

"The Chinese side demands that all sides in the confrontation, especially Israel, take all measures to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers."

Chinese President Hu Jintao issued the orders to condemn the bombing, the foreign ministry said later Friday.

"Hu Jintao after hearing that one of a member of our peacekeeping force had died in an Israeli attack on Lebanon, immediately ordered concerned departments to strongly condemn this attack on peacekeepers," a ministry statement said.

The official Xinhua news agency said the Chinese victim, Du Zhaoyu, was one of 180 Chinese officers, soldiers and observers working in Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping mission.

Du, a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army with a one-year-old son, had been in Lebanon since January, Xinhua said.

Liu said assistant foreign minister Zhai Jun had called in Israeli ambassador Yehoyada Haim on Wednesday morning for an "emergency" meeting over the incident.

"The Chinese side ... demands that the Israeli side open a comprehensive investigation, apologize to the Chinese side and the victim's family and help the Chinese side in carrying out the mourning activities," Haim was told, according to Liu.

Haim did apologize and pledged Israel would carry out a full investigation, Liu said.

Israel's foreign ministry had already issued a communique saying it deeply regretted the deaths of the UN observers.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also condemned the strike and alleged that Israel may have deliberately targeted the UN site.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in a statement.

Liu made no reference to whether the UN post may have been deliberately targeted.

However he did call for an immediate end to the two-week conflict, which has seen hundreds of civilians killed in Israel's campaign against the Hezbollah Shiite militant group in Lebanon.

"We urge all parties to immediately implement a ceasefire and quickly return to the path of negotiation," he said.

"China will make more diplomatic efforts with the international community to push forward the resumption of peace and stability in the Middle East region."

The United States has repeatedly said an immediate ceasefire is not practical because it would freeze problems and leave Hezbollah in place to regroup.

The death of Du, along with the three other UN observers believed to be from Austria, Canada and Finland, was the top item on all of China's main news websites Wednesday, and anger over the incident dominated Internet chatrooms.

"Condolences to the victims! If Israel despises the United Nations and breaks faith with other countries, it's because they have the support from the United States," one posting on the chatroom of the People's Daily website said.

However the reaction was more subdued than in 1999 following the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in which four people were killed.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across China in protest after that incident.

China, which only forged diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, has long been one of the biggest allies of the Palestinian Authority in Asia.

However it has has sought closer ties with Israel in recent years, particularly in trying to source military technology and hardware.

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