China, Italy to boost military ties

The Chinese army on Tuesday pledged to continue promoting relations with the Italian army.

Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) made the remark when meeting with Paolo Sandalli, deputy chief of the 3rd Department, Plans and Military Policy of the Italian Defense General Staff who came to Beijing to attend the 7th staff talks between two sides' defense.

Ma said China and Italy have been currently keeping frequent high-level exchange and deepening political mutual trust.

He acknowledged the fast development of the bilateral trade and two-way investment, as well as personnel exchanges between China and Italy.

Ma said the two countries have effectively cooperated in trade, economy, culture, science and tourism.

Relations between the two sides' armies also witnessed continuous development with the comprehensive progress of China-Italy friendly ties, Ma said.

"Two armies have maintained high-level exchanges and astutely manage the dialogue and cooperation mechanisms," Ma said, "while smoothly cooperating in professional fields and steadily boosting cooperation in personnel training."

The Chinese army has always attached importance to pushing friendly cooperation with the Italian army, Ma said. And China hopes to work together with Italy to continuously bolster ties between armies and add new vitality to the overall development of the ties, he added.

Ma also said China and Italy will exchange views on global and regional security issues during the staff talks.

Sandalli said the two countries have maintained sound bilateral ties and cooperation.

"The Chinese army is an important military power in the world, while the Italian army is an important military power in Europe," Sandalli said, "the two countries have a sound cooperation basis."

Sandalli said Italy has the desire to fix the effective cooperation scheme with China and explore extensive cooperation in all fields.