Foreign service personnel have been invited to observe an exercise, demonstrating the Chinese military's desire to develop cooperative relations with neighboring countries's militaries, a senior official of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence said on Saturday.

Jia Xiaoning, deputy director of the Ministry's Foreign Affairs Office made the remarks after observing the military exercise together with 60 foreign military leaders and observers.

The exercise code-named "Iron Fist-2004" was carried out by a reinforced mechanized infantry division in the Queshan Training Base of the Jinan Military Area Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Central China's Henan Province.

The foreign military leaders and observers are from Brunei, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam. The ranking officers include the commander of the Brunei armed forces, chiefs of the general staff of the Philippines and Tajikistan, and the chief of staff of the Bangladesh army.

This was the first time the PLA invited so many foreign, high-ranking military officers to observe a Chinese military exercise. It was also the largest-scale military exercise open to foreign observers.

"This is to carry out China's diplomatic policy of treating neighbors as friends and partners, and to enhance friendly relations with these countries," he said.

"The exercise is very interesting and impressive," said Shahid Siddiq Tirmizey, director general of the Joint Staff of the Pakistani Army. He said the event demonstrated the advanced arms and professional training of the Chinese army. He said Pakistan will cooperate with the Chinese military more in the future.

(China Daily September 27, 2004)