Tuesday, August 29 2006 13:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: The Chinese armed forces will make joint efforts with the South African military to push forward bilateral friendly cooperation, said a senior Chinese officer today (Aug 29, 2006). Liang Guanglie, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remarks after meeting with visiting Chief of the New South African National Defence Force G.N. Ngwenya.

Ngwenya is on a six-day official goodwill visit to China from Aug 27.

The two armed forces have kept high-level exchanges of visits and friendly cooperation in recent years, he said. Liang said the two countries have shared a deepening political trust since the establishment of diplomatic ties eight years back. The two sides have also made substantial progress in the fields of trade, technology, education and culture. Ngwenya said the South African armed forces are willing to continue to enhance cooperation with the Chinese side in various fields including personnel exchanges. "Strengthening the bilateral friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries and the two armed forces is in the interest of the two countries," he said.