Referring to the downed Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine as "a tragedy", President Xi Jinping on Saturday called for efforts to prevent Ukraine from falling into a humanitarian crisis.

Special: Malaysian airliner crashes over Ukraine

Special: Ukraine crisis

The incident last month showed that "it is important and imperative to properly address the Ukraine crisis," Xi told Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations, in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 went down in eastern Ukraine on July 17, leaving all 298 people on board dead. To enable an investigation in the conflict region, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on July 21, demanding safe and unrestricted access of international experts to the crash site.

Efforts should be made to "ease the tense situation and avoid acceleration of confrontations and conflicts in an alternative way," Xi said, adding China continues to support the UN to play a major part in the process.

Xi said he hoped all relevant parties could work together and make good use of existing communication channels and mediation mechanisms to advance a political solution.

He urged all parties to negotiate a program that could take into consideration the interests of all sides in a balanced manner.

Ban said a political solution, rather than the use of force, is the only right way to resolve the Ukraine issue.

The UN hopes China will continue playing a constructive role in advancing dialogue and addressing the Ukraine crisis in a peaceful way, said Ban.

Ban arrived in Nanjing on Friday and is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the second Youth Olympic Games hosted by the city on Saturday evening.

The meeting on Saturday was the second between Xi and Ban this year, after the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia summit in Shanghai in May.

Contact the writer at zhaoshengnan@chinadaily.com.cn