The armed forces of ASEAN+3 international disaster relief workshop, which last for three days, kicked off on June 10 at the Shijiazhuang Army Command College under the PLA under the theme of international pragmatic cooperation for disaster relief among the armed forces of ASEAN member countries, plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the representatives from 10 ASEAN member states, China, Japan, ROK and ASEAN Secretariat will discuss and exchange views on the issues of legal support of such cooperation, establishment of coordination mechanism and standard operational procedures under the framework of "10+3".

　　Qian Lihua, director general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China gave a speech at the opening ceremony, in which he expressed sincere thanks to the governments and the armed forces of the participating representatives for the earnest sympathy and solicitude they expressed as well as different forms of assistance they provided to China when China suffered the great losses of human lives and properties in the massive Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province on May 12.

　　Qian Lihua said that as the armed forces have unique advantages of quick response, strict command, excellent specialized skills, and fine style of work, they have become a vital force in disaster relief operations in their own countries, and they are also capable of making positive contributions to regional disaster relief operations. To intensify exchanges and cooperation in the disaster relief field is conducive to learning from each other's experience, jointly raising the capacities of responding to disasters, and deepening regional cooperation in the non-traditional security fields.

　　By Lv Desheng

　　(June 11, PLA Daily)                                                Editor: Chen Jie