China hopes Azerbaijan and Armenia will solve their differences through political dialogue, Mao Ning, an official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, told a briefing on Friday.

Azerbaijan and Armenia, she said, are China's friendly partners for cooperation.

"We hope that both sides will respect the achieved ceasefire agreements, avoid further escalation of the situation, and will be able to eliminate all existing contradictions and disagreements through political dialogue," the diplomat said.