China and New Zealand agreed in Beijing on Tuesday to further military cooperation in various fields.

Recently, China and New Zealand enjoy the best relations ever in history with frequent high-level visits, deepening political mutual trust, rapid growth of economic and trade cooperation and good communication and coordination in major international and regional issues, said Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie.

Liang made the remarks while holding talks with visiting New Zealand's Minister of Defense Wayne Mapp.

Bilateral military ties have maintained a good momentum of development with expanding cooperation, Liang said.

China expects to, together with New Zealand, strengthen bilateral high-level visits and strategic dialogues and actively promote the pragmatic cooperation of the two armed forces, Liang said.

Mapp said New Zealand-China relations are one of the most important bilateral relations of New Zealand and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China is an essential force in safeguarding the stability and security of the Asia-Pacific region.

He said that New Zealand is willing to enhance communication and coordination with China on regional security issues and boost military cooperation in fields of peace-keeping, anti-terrorism and humanitarian assistance, so as to promote the continuous development of bilateral relations.

Mapp arrived in Beijing Tuesday morning, starting his three-day official friendly visit to China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2009)