PLA, US troops find 'common bond'in weeklong disaster response drill

Lieutenant General Qin Weijiang, deputy commander of the PLA's Eastern Theatre Command, said the exchanges have continued to mature, and he was glad to see significant improvement in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities and coordination mechanisms.

"I hope the mechanism, organization methods and content of such exercises will continue to develop in the future and that the forces involved will be expanded so that we can improve our disaster response and enhance our capabilities to yield concrete results," he said.

This year's exchange, carried out in the setting of hypothetical earthquake disaster in a third country, called for US and Chinese military cooperation to provide assistance.

It included an academic discussion by experts and a coordination center in which both armies made plans for operational, management and evacuation procedures.

They then assessed the disaster conditions and jointly started search and rescue, first aid and the evacuation of victims.

Yang Tao, the Chinese leader of the search and rescue team, said he had gained a lot from exchanges with US personnel.