Russia-China Military Exercise:
Progress in Military Relations

BEIJING (RIA Novosti) — The forthcoming Russia-China military exercise denotes progress in bilateral military relations, said Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces. "I am pleased to be making my first official visit to this country, to friends with whom we are linked by partner relations," he said in Beijing airport.

He has come to China with "major powers delegated [to me] by the defense minister," the general said. "We have things to discuss and offer to our Chinese colleagues in military-technological cooperation and other spheres."

Yuri Baluyevsky believes that the exercise, preparations for which he is to discuss in Beijing, will denote "progress in the two countries’ relations in the military sphere."

The first military exercise in the history of Russia-China relations is to be held in China in autumn 2005.