Top military official embarks on trip to US

Senior military official Fan Changlong left Beijing for the United States on Monday, the highest-level visit by a Chinese military leader to the country since China's leadership transition in 2012.

Fan, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, is leading a delegation that includes several generals, and he will also visit Cuba, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.

The visit comes amid a war of words between Beijing and Washington over China's construction on the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, and ahead of President Xi Jinping's state visit to the US in September.