BRUSSELS, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- China has made great efforts in searching for a solution to the Darfur crisis in Sudan, Nirj Deva, member of the European Parliament, said Friday.

    "I know how much China has done in Darfur," Deva said in an interview with Xinhua.

    Deva, a British, belongs to the Group of the European People's Party and European Democrats within the European Parliament.

    "We are pleased that China appointed a special envoy for Darfur," he said, the "very important" move had shown "the humanitarian and responsible role China has played to end the tragedy in Darfur".

    He described the visits of Chinese envoy for Darfur Liu Guijin to Sudan as "very positive and very well welcomed."

    "China is a very responsible country," Deva said, adding it did a lot of positive things in Africa and in Sudan such as "building schools, hospitals ..." and persuading the Sudanese government to end the fighting in Darfur.

    Deva urged the international community to work together to disarm the fighting factions in Darfur for a quick end to the humanitarian disaster, calling for more shelters to be provided to the region and the refugees to be resettled.

    As for the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Deva listed it as "the No. One humanitarian crisis in the current world" as thousands of refugees are living in tents.

    The Darfur crisis, which has drawn international attention, has been lasting five years as rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government and accused it of marginalizing the arid region. A humanitarian crisis emerged in the Sudanese western region after years of conflicts and fighting.

    Deva said the internationalization of the matter was, one the hand, positive because the world has become conscious of it, thus, international organizations could intervene and help work out a solution, but on the other hand, negative since it had across-border impact.

    China has made tremendous efforts in pushing for a political solution to the Darfur crisis and appointed Liu as the Chinese government's envoy for Darfur last May.

    The Asian nation initiated a dual-track strategy, which was designed to push forward political negotiations and the peacekeeping mission in Darfur in a balanced manner, but western powers, particularly the Unites States, have been ratcheting up pressures and imposed sanctions on Khartoum over the Darfur issue.

    Liu has recently ended his four-day visit to Sudan, the fourth since his appointment.

    During his stay in Sudan, he flew to South Darfur's capital city Nyala for a one-day visit to assess security and humanitarian situations there. It was his second visit to Darfur as Chinese envoy.

    Since resuming his current post, the 62-year-old diplomat had visited Sudan for four times and recently ended his fourth tour to the African country.

    He also shuttled between the United States, Britain, Egypt and other countries concerned, making unremitting efforts to resolve the Darfur issue.