China on Thursday welcomed an Arab League plan to end nearly eight months of bloodshed in Syria, calling on all sides in the strife-torn nation to end the violence.

Under the deal, announced at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, the Syrian regime agreed to a halt in violence against civilians and to consultations by Arab mediators aimed at opening dialogue with the opposition.

"China welcomes Syria and the Arab League reaching agreement on the working document to solve the Syrian crisis," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"We hope all parties concerned in Syria can make practical efforts to stop all violence and create conditions for solving the relevant issues through dialogue and consultations."

Syria has been shaken since mid-March by an unprecedented protest movement against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The United Nations says more than 3,000 people have been killed by the regime's crackdown on the protests.

China, along with Russia, vetoed a Western-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council on October 4 that would have threatened Assad's regime with targeted sanctions if it continued its campaign against protesters.

Days later, Beijing urged Damascus to speed up the implementation of reforms, veering away from its longstanding policy of non-interference in the country's affairs.

Assad's regime had come under huge pressure from fellow Arab states to sign up to the deal brokered by the pan-Arab bloc to end its deadly crackdown on anti-government protests to avoid the internationalisation of the crisis.

After the signing of the deal, Washington renewed its call for Assad to quit, saying he had "lost his legitimacy to rule".