Zhang Youxia meets with chief of Australian Defense Force

Zhang Youxia, member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and director of the General Armaments Department (GAD) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), met with the delegation led by David Hurley, chief of the Defense Force of Australia who came to China to attend the 15th Defense and Strategy Consultation between China and Australia, on the morning of December 13, 2012 in Beijing.

Zhang Youxia noted that the year 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Australia diplomatic relations. The relationship between the two militaries keeps strengthening in recent years and the Chinese military is willing to make joint efforts with the Australian military to push forward exchange and cooperation in various fields including equipment management, maintenance and support so as to add new contents to the bilateral relationship development.

He also briefed the guests on the situations of the PLA’s equipment construction and management structure, and particularly stressed that China’s weaponry and equipment construction insists on obeying the national strategy of peaceful development, serving the strategic guideline of active defense, adhering to self-dependence and self-innovation and sticking to integrating the equipment construction into national economy construction and technological development.

Hurley said China’s economy has witnessed leap-forward growth in the past decades. Australia is pleased to see China is playing a constructive role in international and regional affairs and it hopes to enhance its cooperation and exchange with the Chinese side in military sectors. He hoped this defense and strategy consultation will yield positive results.