China’s defense minister to visit US by year-end

General Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister, will visit the United States by year-end, the Ministry of National Defense spokesman said on Thursday.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis extended an official invitation to his Chinese counterpart to visit the US within the year, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, the ministry’s spokesman, said in a regular news conference in Beijing.

Wei had accepted the invitation, Wu said, adding the mutual visits between the two nations’ high-ranking military officials have been a consensus reached by the two sides.

Mattis concluded his three-day visit to China on Thursday. He is the first US defense secretary to visit China since April 2014.