Li Hui, the Chinese government's special envoy for Eurasia, will visit Ukraine, Russia, several EU countries and Brussels to attempt to negotiate a settlement to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

As reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, citing a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the trip will be "the second round of shuttle diplomacy to find a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In addition to Ukraine, Russia and Belgium, the Chinese special envoy will also visit France, Germany and Poland.

The visits will start on 2 March.

On Wednesday, China said that "the most urgent task at this moment is to restore peace".

"Over the past two years, we have never abandoned our efforts to promote peace and have never stopped pushing forward the negotiations," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a briefing.

Li visited the region last year as part of efforts to mediate a resolution to the conflict, holding talks in Moscow, Kyiv and several European capitals.

Although China says it is a neutral party in the war in Ukraine, it has been criticised for refusing to condemn Russia for its invasion.

Last year, Beijing published a document calling for a "political settlement", which Western countries believe could allow Russia to retain most of the territories it has seized in Ukraine.