PLA Ground Force commander visits Russia, Pakistan

A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed on Thursday that Li Qiaoming, commander of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force, visited Russia and Pakistan in late August.

According to the annual plan, Li led a delegation to visit the two countries from Aug 21 to 28, at the invitation of the Russian Ground Forces' Commander-in-Chief Oleg Salyukov and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said at a news conference in Beijing.

During the visit, Li met with the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan and held meetings and talks with leaders of the defense ministries and ground forces of the two countries, exchanging views on promoting pragmatic cooperation with the armies of the two nations, he said.

"China is willing to strengthen exchanges and expand cooperation with the militaries of countries around the world to jointly maintain world peace," Wu stressed.