The foreign military attache corps representing their respective embassies in Beijing held a banquet here Friday evening to hail their cooperation with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Labo Bouche Issaka, head of the corps and defence attache with the Nigerien embassy addressed the banquet, expressing his satisfaction about the achievements made through multi-dimensional exchanges between the PLA and foreign military forces.

He congratulated China on its successful manned space mission, saying it was a strong demonstration of the confidence of the PLA and the Chinese people.

Labo also stated concerns over terrorist attacks and hoped to strengthen collaboration with China in combating terrorism.

Zhang Bangdong, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense made remarks on behalf of the Chinese officers.

Zhang praised the positive role played by the foreign military attache corps, also known as the Beijing Military Attache Corps (BMAC), in promoting military exchanges between China and foreign countries.

China will continue to work cooperatively with foreign military attaches in the hope of contributing to the peace and stability of the region and the world at large.

He also briefed the attaches on the progress of Chinese military diplomacy in 2005.

Liang Guanglie, chief of the General Staff of the PLA, and Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the General Staff of the PLA were present at the banquet.

The 260 foreign participants included foreign military attaches and their wives from 83 countries.

The BMAC is one of the world's largest attache corps, according to Labo.

Source: Xinhua