Upon the invitation of the U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Xu Caihou, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China, left Beijing on Oct. 24 to start the official visit to the United States of America.

    The entourage of Xu Caihou including Deputy Chief of General Staff of the PLA Ma Xiaotian, Commander of the Nanjing Military Area Command Zhao Keshi, and Director Yin Fanglong of the Political Department of the Second Artillery Force left Beijing via the same flight.

    During the visit, Xu Caihou will hold talks with the U.S. military and government leaders, visit the U.S. Pacific Command Headquarters, the U.S. Strategic Command, the Ft. Benning Base of the U.S. Army, the Naval Base in San Diego, the Nellis Air Force Base and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.

    Maj. Gen. Qian Lihua, director general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, told the press that it was the first U.S. visit paid by the leader of Chinese CMC since the U.S. President Obama assumed the office and was also the most important program in the Sino-American military exchange activities of this year. “The Chinese side values highly this visit and expects it will serve as a powerful driving force to the development of the China-U.S. military relations”, said Qian.