Concern about the possibility of United States military action against Syria is causing difficulties in trade between China and Syria, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

"Economic and trade cooperation between China and Syria has been affected to a large extent, and we are not encouraging Chinese companies to enter Syria at the moment," said Zhong Man-ying, director-general of the department of western Asian and African affairs, at a news conference in Beijing.

Zhong said that few Chinese workers have remained in the country. There are just a few employees of Chinese telecoms companies still in Syria.