Article Posted on : - Sep 20, 2010

Australian Navy's HMAS Warramunga will visit China later this month. An Australian Navy photo

SYDNEY (BNS): To strengthen bilateral defence ties, two Chinese naval ships arrived in Australia on Monday.

Training ship Zhenghe and multi-role missile frigate Mianyang will be harboured in Sydney from 20th to 24th September. Afterwards, they will sail to Darwin from 3rd to 7th October, the Australian Department of Defence said.

The ships’ arrival follows a recent visit to Australia by senior members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), during which Australia and China agreed to a range of practical cooperation measures aimed at deepening ‘nation to nation’ defence ties.

“This visit builds upon previous Navy-to-Navy engagements with the PLA and is a sign of the growing maturity in our Defence relationship with China,” Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Gilmore said.

Australia will send its HMAS Warramunga guided missile frigate to China on a reciprocal visit. The warship will visit the Chinese ports of Qingdao from 18-22 September and Zhanjiang from 26-30 September.