At the invitation of Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe, the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit China from June 26 to 28, Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, said on Monday.

Chinese state and military leaders will meet with Mattis and the two sides will exchange views on the relations between the two countries and two militaries and other issues of common concerns, Ren said.

To develop a healthy and stable mil-to-mil relationship between China and the US is in accordance with the common interests of both sides and is also a universal expectation of the international community, Ren stressed.

China attaches great importance to developing military relations with the US and hopes that the US and China can meet each other halfway and work together to make the bilateral military relations an important stabilizing factor for relations between the two countries.