BEIJING (REUTERS) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told his United States counterpart Barack Obama on Friday that the crisis in Syria should be resolved through a political solution and not a military strike, state news agency Xinhua has reported.

"A political solution is the only right way out for the Syrian crisis, and a military strike cannot solve the problem from the root," Xinhua quoted Mr Xi as saying at a meeting with Mr Obama on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in St Petersburg in Russia. "We expect certain countries to have a second thought before action."