Two ships of Chinese navy left Shanghai Thursday for a goodwill visit to Germany, Britain, France and Italy.

The two ships -- the Shenzhen, a guided missile destroyer, and the Fengcang, a support vessel-- were both designed and manufactured in China, and will visit the European continent for the first time.

The ships will travel over 23,000 sea miles in 85 days, equivalent to circling the earth via the equator.

Wu Fuchun, commander of the naval ships, said that this visit marks that Chinese naval ships have journeyed to five of the world 's continents, across three oceans.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/24/2001)