Chinese Defense Minister starts visit to the United States

Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie arrived in San Francisco Saturday, kicking off a six-day official visit to the United States during which he is expected to meet senior government and military officials. Upon his arrival, the minister underlined that China-US relations are moving forward despite all the meandering witnessed over the past forty years, adding that history has proved that China and the United States are partners not rivals. Despite the complexity of the international situation, China and the United States enjoy broad common interests and their relations have great potential for development, the minister added. Liang pointed out that his visit aims to implement the consensus which Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama reached on building a cooperative partnership of mutual respect and benefit, and push forward the development of bilateral and military ties in a healthy and stable way. During the visit, Liang will hold talks with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on means of bolstering mutual cooperation, particularly in the field of defense.