Chiefs of the general staff of the Chinese and Russian armed forces began strategic consultations for the first Chinese-Russian joint military exercise, code-named Peace Mission 2005, at 9:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. Beijing time) Thursday in Vladivostok.

Liang Guanglie, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and his Russian counterpart Yury Baluyevsky exchanged views on bilateral relations, international and regional situation and issues of common concern.

Peace Mission 2005 is to be held in the Russian coastal city of Vladivostok later this morning.

Source: Xinhua