Participating soldiers learn to use Chinese weapons and equipment prior to the second day's joint training of the "Cooperation-2017" joint anti-terrorism training between the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (APF) and Russian Federation National Guard on December 4, 2017. 

A 6-day air defence drill conducted by Chinese and Russian troops was successfully concluded in Beijing on Dec.16, marking another milestone in the two nations’ joint efforts to deal with regional ballistic and cruise missile threats.

The drill, dubbed Aerospace Security 2017 Chinese-Russian Anti-Ballistic Missile defence computer-simulated command post exercise, focused mainly on group discussion and computer simulation, in an effort to tackle possible ballistic and cruise attacks against the two nations, according to a statement released by China’s Ministry of Defense on Dec.17.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, in Moscow, Russia, on Dec. 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xiaowei)

The military actions come amid the deployment of American THAAD batteries in the Asian-Pacific region, as well as the increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Though both China and Russia have clarified that the exercise does not target any third party, many foreign media outlets speculated that the two nations are bolstering their air defence cooperation to demonstrate their power in the region.

“It must be emphasized that China and Russia are both against developing global anti-ballistic missile systems,” read the statement. “Chinese and Russian militaries will intensify pragmatic anti-ballistic missile cooperation and jointly safeguard their security interests and regional strategic balance.”

“Strategic anti-missile technologies are top military secrets for any nation. Most countries are prudent when it comes to such transnational cooperation, but due to further expansion of the U.S. global anti-missile system, such cooperation between China and Russian might be deepened in the future,” Han Xiangdong, a military expert, told Thepaper.cn.

Participating soldiers stand and await orders after arriving at a designated training base during the second day's joint training of the "Cooperation-2017" joint anti-terrorism training between the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (APF) and Russian Federation National Guard on December 4, 2017. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wang Huawei, Wang Tao and Zhou Huancheng)

This is the second time that such military practice has been conducted by China and Russia, with the first being held in Moscow in May 2016.