China is pleased with Israel's just-completed withdrawal from Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said in Beijing on August 25.

The Israeli pullout is an "important step" towards the settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Kong said.

"China hopes that Israel and Palestine will take this as a chance to resume peace talks based on the Middle East roadmap as soon as possible," he said.

Israel began the pullout operation at the midnight of Aug. 15 and completed the evacuation Tuesday, putting an end to the whole pullout process.

Source: Xinhua