Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 24, 2002
Chinese Naval Fleet Concludes Visit to Turkey
A Chinese navy fleet, composed of a missile guided destroy, the Qingdao, and a supply ship, the Taicang, concluded a four-day visit to Turkey on Sunday and left for Ukraine to continue its maiden round-the-globe voyage.
A Chinese navy fleet, composed of a missile guided destroy, the Qingdao, and a supply ship, the Taicang, concluded a four-day visit to Turkey on Sunday and left for Ukraine to continue its maiden round-the-globe voyage.
The fleet, headed by Commander of the North China Sea Fleet Ding Yiping, arrived at Turkey's Aksaz navy base on Thursday morning.
During the four-day stay in Turkey, the Chinese naval servicemen and their Turkish counterparts visited each other's ships and also held football and table-tennis matches.
Ding told Xinhua that the Chinese fleet came to Turkey to promote understanding, trust and friendship between the two countries and between the armed forces of the two nations. The visit was a great success, he added.
This was the first visit to Turkey by a Chinese navy fleet. A Turkish navy fleet paid a visit to Shanghai, China, in 2000.
The Chinese fleet started its round-the-global voyage from a naval base in Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province on May 15. Turkey was its third stop following Singapore and Egypt.