Beirut (dpa) – Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun on Saturday assured Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of Beijing's support for his plans to introduce constitutional reforms, the official Syrian News Agency SANA reported. “China backs the course of reforms being followed by Syria and the important steps it has already taken,” Zhai was quoted as having said in talks with Assad in the Syrian capital Damascus. Assad, meanwhile, told his guest that foreign pressure on Syria was “mainly aimed at dividing it and undermining its role in the region.” At least 7,200 Syrians have been killed in the violence since protests erupted against Assad's rule in March last year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Kzou2 Tags: Assad, China, Support Section: East Asia, Latest News, Syria