By Lu Huaiqian and Guo Lei
WELLINGTON, Nov. 11 (Chinamil) -- On the morning of November 8, the 10th strategic dialogue between the Chinese and New Zealand militaries was held in Wellington. General Li Zuocheng, member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and Chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, Air Marshal Kevin Short, Chief of New Zealand Defense Force(NZDF), and Andrew Bridgman, New Zealand’s Secretary of Defense and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Defense, co-chaired the event. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on issues of common concern such as the bilateral ties, mil-to-mil relations and the regional security.
General Li said that in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping successfully visited New Zealand and the two sides agreed to upgrade China-New Zealand relations to comprehensive strategic partnership. In April this year, during Prime Minister Jacinda Aden’s visit to China, the leaders of the two countries reached an important consensus on continuously enriching the content of comprehensive strategic partnership, which injected a strong momentum into the development of bilateral relations. Driven by the care and promotion of the leaders of both countries, the relations between the two militaries have developed well, leading the exchanges between China and the developed countries' militaries in such fields as high-level exchange, strategic dialogue, joint training, professional exchange, and personnel training. China is willing to work together with the New Zealand side to further strengthen strategic communication, expand pragmatic cooperation, and push the relations between the two militaries to a new level.
The New Zealand side gave a positive evaluation on the current development of the bilateral military relations, and expressed willingness to further strengthen strategic dialogue with China, expand cooperation in various fields on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit, and continuously improve the development of bilateral military relations.
On the afternoon of November 7, General Li also met with Winston Peters, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wu Xi attended the meeting.