PLA Daily 2006-09-18

　　At the invitation of the Ministry of Defense of New Zealand, General Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, arrived in Christchurch on September 16 to begin his official friendly visit to New Zealand.

　　In his written speech distributed at the airport, Xu Caihou said that although China and New Zealand are far apart from each other geographically, the Chinese people have always cherished friendly sentiments towards the people of New Zealand. The Chinese government and army are ready to make common efforts with their New Zealand counterparts to develop an all-round cooperative ties of mutual benefit and win-win outcome in the 21^st century under the principle of mutual respect, mutual trust, equality and mutual benefit and common development, and expand and deepen the relations between the two countries and the two militaries. Xu also said in his written speech that the purpose of his current visit is to further enhance understanding, expand consensus, develop friendship, and promote cooperation and, push for sound and in-depth development of ties between the two countries and the two militaries.

　　Lt. Gen. Jerry Mataparae, chief of the Defense Force of New Zealand, welcomed Xu at the airport. The principal members of Xu Caihou's delegation, including Liu Yuan, political commissar of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, Sun Jianguo, chief of staff of the PLA Navy and, Sun Sijing, deputy political commissar of the PLA General Logistics Department, arrived in Christchurch by the same flight.

　　By Xia Wenhui