China welcomes the U.S. government nomination of Gary Locke as the new ambassador to China, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday.

File photo taken on Dec. 15, 2010 shows U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke addressing the opening ceremony of the plenary session of the 21st U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting in Washington D.C., capital of the United States. U.S. President Obama on March 9, 2011 formally nominated Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China, saying that no one is better qualified for the diplomatic post than Locke. [Zhang Jun/Xinhua]

China would like the new U.S. ambassador to China to help strengthen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular news briefing.

"The relationship between China and the U.S. is very important. And we hope the new ambassador plays a positive role in advancing the development of Sino-U.S. relations," said Jiang.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday formally nominated Commerce Secretary Locke to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China, saying that no one was better qualified for the diplomatic post than Locke.

If approved by the U.S. Senate and China, 61-year-old Locke would succeed Jon Huntsman, who is expected to end his tenure at the end of April. Locke would be the first Chinese-American to hold the post.