WASHINGTON - The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Thursday approved at a business meeting the nomination of the current US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the next US ambassador to China, sending his name to the Senate floor for confirmation.

The Senate has not revealed a date for the nomination to be voted upon.

Locke was formally nominated by President Barack Obama on March 9 as the next US ambassador to China.

If confirmed by the Senate, he will become the first Chinese-American ambassador to China.