China, Russia kick off joint anti-terror exercises

A series of joint anti-terror exercises were launched Sunday with the participation of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Russia's newly-formed National Guard in suburb of Moscow.

Major General Qin Tian, chief of staff of Chinese Armed Police Force and Sergei Chenchik, chief of staff of the Russian National Guard, attended the launching ceremony.

The special drills are being held from July 3 to July 14 in Russia's Moscow and Smolensk regions. China's Snow Leopard and Falcon commando units, as well as the Russian National Guard's Vityaz unit, are participating in the exercises.

Liu Zhijun, deputy director of the CAPF's Exercises Department, said this is the third time for the two countries' interior forces to hold such exercises, which center on tactical skills in combating terrorism to boost practical cooperation between the forces of both sides.

Sergei Chenchik, chief of staff of the Russian National Guard, spoke highly of the discipline of the CAPF, saying Russia is ready to launch a new stage of cooperation with China and to carry out common tasks based on the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.