PLA contingent attends Cote d'Ivoire's independence military parade

A contingent of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Support Base in Djibouti attended a military parade marking the 64th anniversary of Cote d'Ivoire's independence on Wednesday in Abidjan, the country's economic capital.

President of Cote d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara arrived at the parade site at 9:30, and the parade commenced after the salute was fired. The parade featured contingents from the army, navy, air force, gendarmerie and police, comprising both marching columns and equipment columns. The parade involved more than 5,000 personnel in total.

At the invitation of the Ministry of Defense of Cote d'Ivoire, 53 officers and soldiers from the PLA Support Base in the country attended the military parade.

"It is a happy and exciting day for me to witness the performance of the PLA Navy Guard of Honor at the National Day Parade in Cote d'Ivoire. We're very proud," said a local Chinese.

"Participating in the military parade to celebrate the 64th anniversary of Cote d'Ivoire's independence allowed the Chinese military to showcase its image as a peaceful, powerful and civilized force to the people of Cote d'Ivoire and representatives from other countries in attendance. It also reflects China's emphasis on developing bilateral relations, consolidating and deepening the traditional friendship between the two countries and the two militaries," said Tan Jia, China's PLA task force commander.

"PLA's participation in the military parade demonstrates the outstanding relationship between Cote d'Ivoire and China, and we have a responsibility to keep the long-standing friendship between our two countries going strong," said Tene Birahima Ouattara, Ivorian Minister of Defense.

The diplomatic ties between Cote d'Ivoire and China were established in 1983, and bilateral cooperation between the two countries various fields has been continually strengthened since then.

PLA contingent attends Cote d'Ivoire's independence military parade

PLA contingent attends Cote d'Ivoire's independence military parade

The delegation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinse People's Armed Police Force to the third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, held group meetings to review the government work report on Wednesday afternoon in Beijing.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered the government work report on behalf of the State Council at the opening meeting of the third session of the 14th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday morning.

Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said that the extraordinary achievements made by the Party, the country and the military over the past year have proved that no difficulties or obstacles can stop China from advancing the historical process of national rejuvenation.

He stressed that the entire military forces must focus on achieving the centenary goal of the PLA, comprehensively enhance the military's capability to fight and win, and accelerate the advancement of the modernization of national defense and armed forces.

He Weidong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the CMC, said that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, China has made new solid strides forward in advancing Chinese modernization, urging the whole military to strengthen military training and combat readiness, promote the implementation of plans, unswervingly enforce discipline while combating corruption to achieve the centenary goal of the PLA.

Military delegation to NPC annual session reviews gov't work report