China said Thursday that it will hold joint naval drills with Russia next week, in another sign that the countries' militaries are growing closer.
The drills will be held off the northern port city of Qingdao, Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said at a monthly briefing. Taking place from Monday to Saturday, they will feature ships and submarines along with fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and marine units.
Bonded by a common rivalry with the U.S., Moscow and Beijing have forged what they describe as a "strategic partnership," expressing their shared opposition to the "unipolar" world a term they use to describe perceived US global dominance.
Last September, about 3,200 Chinese troops joined Russia's largest-ever war games in Siberia, in which nearly 300,000 Russian troops conducted drills.
China's People's Liberation Army Navy marked its 70th anniversary this week with a fleet review attended by President Xi Jinping, who is also head of the armed forces and has expanded the country's military might. Last year, Xi said the mission of transforming China's navy into a "first-rate world navy" has "never been more urgent."
China has taken an aggressive approach to its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where it has built military installations on man-made islands in the waters claimed by several other nations.
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