China and Russia will hold a joint anti-terror military exercise next year, the Chinese defense chief said on Wednesday.

"We should stage a successful China-Russia anti-terrorism joint military drill next year," Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie told reporters, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov.

This would be the third joint military exercise between the two militaries.

During their first-ever joint training in August 2005, a total of 10,000 people attended a week-long exercise first in Vladivostok, in Russia's Far East, then later moved to east China's Shandong Peninsula.

The "Peace Mission 2007" drill involved 6,500 people and 80 aircraft from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

"Our exercises in 2005 and 2007, under the SCO framework, were very successful," Serdyukov said, stressing bilateral military ties have been upgraded to a new level in recent years.

The Russian defense chief, who was on his first visit to China, said the cooperation within the SCO framework helped deepen mutual trust in the military field.

Hailing Serdyukov's visit as "a significant event" in military ties this year, Liang said China attached great importance to the visit.

"Both of us are satisfied with the growth of our military ties. Moreover, we have reached extensive consensus on stepping up our military cooperation," Liang said, without specifying the consensus.

The past few years saw steady progress of China-Russia military ties. Apart from joint exercises, the two held regular talks between their departments of General Staff. They also set up direct phone lines between their defense ministries last March.

With the 60th anniversary of China-Russia ties next year, Liang said, "The two agreed to make the best of this opportunity and work together to take our ties to a new high."

During their 90-minute talks, Liang also proposed the two countries keep their high-level military exchanges and carry out existing cooperative programs.

Liang said it was also important to strengthen personnel training and exchanges in specialized fields and expand areas of cooperation.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet with Serdyukov on Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)