China, Russia conclude joint naval drills

The PLA navy's guided missile destroyer Shijiazhuang sails on Wednesday into the exercise areas where the live ammunition exercises are being held. Zha Chunming / Xinhua

Directors of "Joint Sea-2013" drill from China and Russia exchange gifts at the closing ceremony of the joint naval drills in Vladivostok, Russia, July 11, 2013. Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the Chinese Navy and director of the "Joint Sea-2013" drill, announced the end of the joint naval drills here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Zha Chunming)

Chinese and Russian naval forces concluded their "Joint Sea-2013" drills on Thursday.

The two nations made a summarization of the joint military maneuvers, and communicated with each other on deepening cooperation between their naval forces.

Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the Chinese Navy, said thanks to the joint efforts of Chinese and Russian officers and soldiers, the joint naval drills fulfilled all of their purposes and came out as a success.

The two countries made an in-depth discussion on deepening mutual cooperation, which had a great significance on their development and improvement, Ding said.

He said the two countries would push forward the cooperation between their naval forces and enhance their mutual friendship.

Leonid Sukhanov, deputy chief of staff of the Russian Navy, said the joint drills strengthened the cooperation between Chinese and Russian naval forces.

He said the two sides would enlarge the fields and enrich the content of their joint drills, which included the training of officers and cooperation between the two countries' naval forces.

The joint naval drills, dubbed "Joint Sea-2013," started Saturday. They were the ninth bilateral and multilateral joint military exercises carried out by the Chinese and Russian militaries.