As two leading nations in the world, Russia and China are continuing to strengthen their overall strategic partnership. In light of this, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, met for talks in Beijing on Nov. 3 and pledged to expand cooperation between their two militaries.

“The strategic partnership between our countries has reached an unprecedented high level. It is based on personal contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping,” Belousov said, TASS reported. He said Russia would strengthen strategic consultations with China and expand practical cooperation in areas such as military education and scientific and technological innovation, reported Global Times. Belousov added that Russia appreciates and supports China’s active role in international and regional affairs at a time when the security situation, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, is “complex and volatile.”

Zhang said their two presidents, who have met many times this year, “have charted new strategic directions for the development of China-Russia relations,” and called the talks “a practical step toward implementing the important agreements reached by our heads of state.” Military ties have advanced alongside broader relations, he said, with significant progress in high-level exchanges and joint exercises and training.

China is prepared to “thoroughly implement the important agreements reached by the heads of our two states, continuously strengthen strategic coordination, deepen mutual trust in the military sphere, improve cooperation mechanisms, identify new forms of interaction that reflect the spirit of the times, more effectively safeguard the sovereignty, security, and development interests of our countries, and resolutely uphold global and regional peace and stability,” Zhang said, according to TASS.

The two navies held the “Joint Sea-2026” naval exercises from July 6 to 13, the 12th exercise in a series dating to 2012.