Chinese and Russian naval forces on Monday launched joint naval drills in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk. Code-named "Joint Sea 2015-I", this was the fourth set of exercises since joint China-Russia sea drills began in 2012.

"Both sides have dispatched their battle ships to take part in the exercise, which shows China and Russia have a deep mutual trust”, military expert Yin Zhuo told CCTV in an interview. It will be a standard practice for China's navy to cruise on the high seas, he added.

The drills, scheduled from May 11 to May 21 in the Mediterranean and involving nine surface ships from both navies, are to be staged in four phases, focusing on maritime defense, replenishment and escorting. The 11-day exercise is divided into four phases. The first two days will be the preparation period, followed by the gathering of the two navies in the Mediterranean from May 12 to May 17. Exercises to safeguard maritime safety will be conducted from May 18 to May 21.

The participants vessels are all battle ships which are likely to be sent into action in the case of conflict.

China's Linyi and Weifang are China's most advanced type 054A escort ships and the supply ship Weishanhu has taken part in several anti-piracy patrols.

On the Russian side, the Moskva is a missile cruiser flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the rest are the navy battle ships. 

This article was edited and translated from 《中俄主战舰艇聚首地中海 专家:应习惯我军舰赴远海》, source: People's Daily Online