China and Russia pledged to step up military ties during a weeklong visit to Russia by China's Defense Minister General Cao Gangchuan.
The visit was aimed at strengthening military co-operation and in particular Chinese arms procurement from Russia. Cao's schedule included visits to military plants in St Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, which supply submarines to China.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said military-technical co-operation between Russia and China had expanded consistently over the past few years.