国内英语新闻:Angolan president meets with China's PLA senior officer

LUANDA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday held talks with visiting Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Chen Bingde, officials with the military delegation told Xinhua.

Welcoming Chen to visit Angola, President dos Santos said the two countries enjoyed friendly ties and Angola appreciated China's assistance to the Angolan people and armed force.

The president said Angola attached importance to cooperation with China in various fields, and hoped to build up a sound and working mechanism on staff training and infrastructure construction to promote military ties between the two countries.

Chen extended best wishes and cordial greetings from Chinese President Hu Jintao, and he stressed the friendly cooperation between China and Angola fell in line with the common interests of the two peoples, and also contributed to peace and stability in the world community.

He said, military cooperation, as part of overall cooperation between China and Angola, has been developing smoothly, and the Chinese military was ready to promote friendly cooperation with the Angola armed forces under the new international circumstances.

Chen arrived in Luanda on Wednesday for a three-day visit on the second leg of his three-nation tour on the African continent. He flew in Luanda from Namibia and was also expected to leave for Tanzania on Saturday. Briefing reporters on Chen's mission, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Bolun said China hoped to strengthen bilateral military cooperation in the areas of staff training and equipment supply, and Chen's visit to Luanda was conducive to strengthening military ties between the two countries, including exchange of institutional delegations, staff training and so on.