Beijing has resisted a fourth round of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran following its recent announcement that it would press ahead with plans to increase its ability to make
nuclear weapons.    

China - which relies on Iran for energy supplies - maintains now isn't the time to discuss such measures and the door to negotiations with Tehran remains open. As a permanent member of the
Security Council, along with the U.S., Russia, Britain and France, China is in a position to veto any new measures.    

The Israeli delegation that included Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon and central bank chief Stanley Fischer did not answer questions from reporters at the Beijing airport Thursday afternoon.    

"They're coming to discuss a number of issues - bilateral, regional and international - of mutual interest to China and Israel, and among them the Iranian issue," Israeli Embassy spokesman Guy Kivetz said, declining to elaborate further.    

They were expected to meet with China's senior foreign policy adviser Dai Bingguo during the two-day visit. The United States and others fear Iran's nuclear program is geared toward making nuclear weapons, while Tehran claims it is simply to provide more power for its growing population.    

Iran has defied five U.N. Security Council resolutions - and three sets of U.N. sanctions - aimed at pressuring it to freeze enrichment, and has instead steadily expanded its program.

AP