China welcomes and supports India and Pakistan solving their differences through talks and cooperation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday.

In response to questions at a regular press conference, Jiang said China was pleased India's and Pakistan's prime ministers held talks on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in late April.

She said the talks showed the two countries' willingness to improve their ties.

Jiang said India and Pakistan are both important countries in South Asia and neighbors of China.

She said an improvement in the two countries' relationship would be conducive to peace, stability and development in both South Asia and Asia as a whole.

China also welcomes and supports the two countries achieving common development through talks and cooperation, she added.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani held talks in Bhutan April 29 on the sidelines of the 16th SAARC summit.

India and Pakistan launched the process of composite dialogue in 2004 to tackle their disputes and differences. The talks stalled after the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008 that left 166 people dead.