Beijing/Tokyo - China called Monday for restraint after North Korea's rocket launch and international condemnation of the Stalinist state as Japan sought support to pass a UN resolution against its neighbour.

   Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi warned against escalating tensions in telephone calls to his counterparts in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia, official Chinese media reported, after North Korea defied international warnings and carried out the launch of the long-range rocket Sunday.

   The four countries, along with China and North Korea are involved in six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programme, and Yang called for the stalled negotiations, which China hosts, to resume so a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula could be achieved and peace and stability in the region could be preserved, the reports said.

   Japan's government, meanwhile, was considering stepping up its own sanctions against North Korea, which now include a ban on exports of luxury goods and weapons materials, a government spokesman said, as Tokyo also seeks a new UN resolution against North Korea.

   Japan has gained support from its allies on the UN Security Council for a new resolution but still faces differences with China and Russia, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said.

   "The various countries share the common concern that North Korea's action has a grave impact on the region's stability and security," the Kyodo News Agency quoted Nakasone as saying.

   But there still remains "a certain degree of difference on how the UN Security Council should respond to that," Nakasone said, referring to China and Russia, two of the five veto-wielding members on the council.

   North Korea launched what it claimed was a communications satellite, which passed over north-eastern Japan. Japan, the United States and South Korea suspect it was a cover to test a long-range ballistic missile.

   Japan "won understanding to a certain extent from other members" when claiming North Korea's rocket launch was a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions during an emergency meeting Sunday in New York, Nakasone said.

   The meeting, held behind closed doors, ended without a vote. However, the council's 15 members plan further discussions Monday, said Claude Heller of Mexico, the council's president.

   Nakasone held telephone talks with the five veto powers on the council and said "China and Russia share the concern that this is a threat to the region, but they appear reserved and cautious as of now."

   China and Russia expressed understanding for Japan's position but have not agreed that the rocket launch violated the resolutions.

   In Seoul, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak pledged to take a stern response to its neighbour's launch.

   "North Korea's reckless act that threatens regional and global security cannot be justified under any circumstances," he said in a radio address.

   Washington, Seoul and Tokyo said the launch failed, contradicting North Korean assessments of a successful lift-off. They said no object had entered Earth's orbit.

   Meanwhile, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency showed pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il watching the launch of the domestically produced rocket from a military command centre.

   Kim expressed satisfaction with "the successful launch" while meeting with scientists and technicians who helped on the project, the report said.