China, US agree to speed up talks on mutual reporting mechanism

WASHINGTON - China and the United States have agreed to speed up talks on establishing a mutual reporting mechanism on major military operations and a code of safe conduct on naval and air military encounter between the two sides.

The agreement was reached when Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Wang Guanzhong and US Under Secretary of Defense Christine E. Wormuth co-chaired the 15th annual Defense Consultative Talks in the Pentagon on Thursday.

The two sides conducted a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the military ties between China and the United States, international and regional affairs as well as other issues of common concern.

Both sides spoke highly of the major headways made in bilateral military relations since the last round of consultative talks and emphasized the importance of deeping cooperation in various fields and handling divergence in a constructive way.

Wang said this year is the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.

Both sides should take it as an opportunity to view and run the the new type of bilateral military ties from a strategic height and a long-term prospective, endeavor to deepen strategic mutual trust, expand military dialogue and cooperation, deal with divergence and manage and control risks under the principle of non-conflict and non-confrontation so as to realize a positive interaction in the Asia-Pacific region, Wang said.

Wormuth said the development of a new type of military ties between the United States and China is of great significance to stable development of relations between the two countries.

The two sides should maintain continued and substantive dialogue, conduct pragmatic cooperation in concrete spheres and make efforts to manage and control risks, he noted.

The two sides agreed to hold the 16th annual Defense Consultative Talks in China in 2015.