BEIJING - The US navy admiral nominated to become the next commander of the US Pacific Command (PACOM) said on Thursday that he plans to improve the country's military relationship with China, should Congress approve his nomination.

Samuel Locklear III, who currently serves as commander of the US Naval Forces in Europe, made the statement on Thursday during a confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee. If his nomination is approved, he will succeed Robert Willard as the chief of about 325,000 military personnel.

He said that greater cooperation between the Chinese and US militaries will reduce tensions and give greater clarity and transparency to bilateral relations.

"It would be my plan to - in every way possible - improve our military-to-military relationship, with the recognition that there are things we won't agree on; that greater transparency is for the good of all of us to avoid miscalculation," Locklear told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

It was a positive signal since risks, irritants and a lack of strategic trust still exist in the military relationship between the two countries, said Wang Junsheng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

He added that the Sino-US military relationship, which is a barometer of bilateral ties, lags behind political relations and is far from where it should be.

The United States knows its national interests in global hotspots could be better maintained with China's assistance, Wang said.

The speech was well-timed, he added. Considering Vice-President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to the US.

Since China is the largest economy in Asia and a key player on many issues, Locklear said that a Sino-US partnership would be "cooperative but competitive".

"We have interests in that part of the world. And I believe that the Chinese and other people in that part of the world need to recognize that we do have US national interests there, and we have the interests of strong allies there," he said.

Although the navy commander's comments reflected the newly released US defense strategy of pivoting the country's security priorities to the Asia Pacific, it doesn't clash with China's national interests, said Gong Li, an expert on international relations at the International Strategic Research Center in the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China.

"China is not trying to push the US out of Asia, but rather asking it to play a constructive role in regional affairs, " he said, adding that recent US actions in the South China Sea were not appropriate.

Wang from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences agreed, saying that China diplomatically recognized and will not challenge US national interests in the region. But the US often uses it as an excuse to interfere in the South China Sea, he said.

China Daily-Xinhua