China, Britain vow to deepen military exchanges, mutual trust

Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan (R) meets with British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon on the sideline of the UN peacekeeping defense ministerial meeting in London, Britain, Sept 8, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

LONDON -- China and Britain on Thursday pledged to enhance their exchanges and mutual trust in military to tap their huge cooperation potential.

The latest development came as visiting Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan met with British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon on the sideline of the ongoing UN peacekeeping defense ministerial meeting in London.

Chang, also a Chinese state councilor, said that his country is willing to deepen mutual understanding and political trust with the new British government, expand cooperation and exchanges in various areas and levels so as to make new progress in the bilateral strategy coordination and pragmatic cooperation.

Chang's remarks came as China and Britain reaffirmed their commitments to the "golden era" in the bilateral relationship when the leaders of the two countries met in Hangzhou during the G20 summit a few days ago.

The minister said that the military relations between the two nations had witnessed substantial progress.

He called on the two sides to maintain the momentum of high-level military exchanges and bring new connotation to their pragmatic cooperation.

"We should make our military relations a critical growth pole for our bilateral relations," Chang added.

On his part, Fallon said that Britain is willing to strengthen its exchanges and cooperation with China in military and defense.

The defense ministerial meeting is a follow-up event of the the Leaders'summit on Peacekeeping which was convened in the United States last year.