China on Thursday asked Malaysia to continue investigating the cause of the MH370 accident after the Malaysian side confirmed that debris found last week belonged to the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

The Chinese government expresses grief and sorrow for those on board, and extends profound sympathy and condolences to their families, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

She said the Chinese government requests the Malaysian side to act on its commitment, continue the investigation into the cause of the accident, provide the families with necessary help and uphold their lawful rights and interests.

Earlier on Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the debris discovered on Reunion Island was confirmed to belong to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. He said Malaysia remains dedicated to finding out what happened on board the flight.

The debris was discovered on Reunion Island on July 29 and was officially identified as part of a plane wing, known as a flaperon, from a Boeing 777.

Prior to the latest discovery, a massive surface and underwater hunt had failed to find the plane in what had become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.

The plane went missing on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 on board, most of them Chinese.