Since 2002, China has held 16 joint military exercises with 11 countries, says a white paper issued Friday by the Information Office of the State Council.

China has established military ties with over 150 countries and military attache offices in 107 countries, says the White Paper titled "China's National Defense in 2006".

To date, a total of 85 countries have military attache offices in China. In the past two years, senior People Liberation Army (PLA) delegations have visited more than 60 countries, and defense ministers, commanders-in-chief of the services, chiefs of the general staff and other high-ranking officers and military-related officials from more than 90 countries have visited China.

Naval ships from Thailand, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, France, Singapore and Peru have paid port visits to China, the white paper says, and PLA naval ships have visited Pakistan, India, Thailand, the United States, Canada and the Philippines.

In the past two years, the PLA has dispatched over 500 military personnel to study in more than 20 countries, and over 2,000 military personnel from more than 140 countries have come to China to study in military schools, the paper says.

Source: Xinhua