May 6 (Reuters) - China's financial regulator has advised the country's largest lenders to temporarily suspend new loans to five refineries recently sanctioned by the U.S. over their ties to Iranian oil,

China’s financial regulator advised the country’s largest banks to temporarily suspend new loans to five refiners recently sanctioned by the US over their ties to Iranian oil, according to people familiar with the matter.

China's top diplomat says ties with the U.S. remain generally stable despite many challenges. He calls for both countries to contribute to global peace.

Washington and Tehran would both like to find a way out of this war – and Xi Jinping can do much to push the latter in that direction

Yet it would be a mistake to doubt the sincerity of China’s verdict that America’s best days are past it. This worldview, partly rooted in Marxist suspicion of capitalism, gained ascendancy in China after the global financial crisis of 2008.

China’s diplomatic role in the Iran war has come into sharper focus after talks between Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers on Wednesday, days before U.S.

The war in Iran has left China’s neighbors appealing for help, handing Beijing the kind of sway it has long sought.

A company operating in China apparently fired the relative of a Taiwanese minister over backing for the island’s independence, according to Chinese state media — a move officials in Taipei condemned.