BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday welcomed the passing of legislation to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

"We welcome the U.S. progress in dealing with the issues," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing on Thursday.

Hua's comments came after the U.S. Senate on Wednesday night approved a deal which would raise the debt ceiling and end the partial shutdown of the federal government.

"As the world's largest economy, the proper settlement of the issues works for U.S. interests and benefits world economic stability and development," Hua said.