Defence minister's official visit to the People's Republic of China continued through November 12 and 13, when the officials participated in the activities conducted at the training center in Kunming, Yunnan Province, where the Romania-Chinese training exercise "Friendship Action 2010" took place.

On Friday, November 12, the defence minister met with the Romanian soldiers of the 26th Mountain Troops Battalion and visited the training facilities of the base. Minister Gabriel Oprea and the soldiers discussed aspects of the training with their Chinese comrades as well as the stages and results of the training programme. The troops exercised together climbing techniques and tactical exercises in rocky and woody land, search and rescue procedures, medevac at high altitude and firing Chinese weapons.


Also on Friday, minister Oprea had a meeting with General Li Shiming, commander of Chengdu Military Region; the two officials reiterated the importance of common training sessions for Mountain troops operations conducted in difficult land and weather conditions.

On Saturday, November 13, the Romanian defence minister and the commander of Chengdu Military Region watched the tactical exercises and firing conducted by Romanian and Chinese troops. They also attended the closing ceremony of exercise "Friendship Action 2010".


In the speech he held at the ceremony, the Romanian minister said "I strongly believe that our military partnership and cooperation have great developing potential. This is endorsed by our common activities in the field of military education and topography but mostly by the success of military exercises such as "Friendship Action". Such exercises are a means to consolidate our bilateral cooperation in combat training".

Minister Oprea pointed out that his visit in the People's Republic of China was a benchmark in our bilateral and partnership relations, strengthened during the 61-year long diplomatic relations between Romania and the People's Republic of China. He said "that was an excellent opportunity to strengthen the friendly relations of the two countries by identifying and making the most out of development opportunities, of military bilateral relations, under the sign of mutual trust ".

At the end of the ceremony, the two officials awarded medals and commendations to the Romanian and Chinese soldiers who had outstanding results during the exercise. Later, minister Oprea and the Chinese officials had lunch with the mountain troops involved in the exercise.

The second edition of common training exercise "Friendship Action" was hosted by China during November 4 to 13. Its first edition took place in Romania in 2009. This kind of activity is one of the experience exchanges Romanian Mountain troops make with Mountain troops of other states.

MoND Press Office