BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese military official said Monday China values friendly and cooperative relations with the British armed forces, and hopes to advance the relationship with the joint efforts of Britain.

Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), made the remarks while meeting with British Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff Nicholas Houghton in Beijing.

Houghton was in Beijing to attend the fourth China-UK defense strategic talks on Sunday. He co-chaired the one-day talks with Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the PLA Ma Xiaotian.

During the meeting, Chen spoke highly of the sound development and momentum of bilateral military relations featuring frequent high-level military exchanges and an improvement of the defense strategic consultation mechanism.

He said China attaches great importance to the bilateral defense strategic talks, and hopes the mechanism will continue to play a positive role in promoting mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation between the two armed forces.

Houghton said the consultation mechanism is of great importance to the construction and development of the two armed forces.

He said British armed forces are willing to enhance communication and cooperation with Chinese armed forces in an effort to contribute to international security and stability.