The Chinese PLA (People's Liberation Army) Institute of Science has launched an International Cadets Week, the first of its kind in China, so as to promote exchange, mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese cadets and their foreign schoolmates.

Seventeen cadets from France, Germany, Egypt and the US are participating in a series of training, sports and cultural activities in the military academy, which is located in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu Province, east China.

The foreign cadets will also be invited to visit the homes of some Chinese Army officers and the Great Wall and the Imperial Palace in Beijing, the national capital.

This event has been approved by the headquarters of the PLA General Staff.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)