On this day, 28 years ago, on December 9, 1997 (November 10, 1997 in the lunar calendar), officials from the Chinese and American Departments of Defense held their first formal consultations. On December 9, 1997, Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China, and his party went to the United States to hold consultations between the Defense Departments of China and the United States. The two sides will exchange views on issues such as international and regional security and bilateral relations. This is the first consultation between the defense departments of China and the United States after the two heads of state decided during President Jiang Zemin's visit to the United States that the defense departments of the two countries have established a regular consultation mechanism. On December 11-12, officials from the defense departments of China and the United States held their first formal consultations in Washington. Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Slocombe chaired the consultations. During the consultations, the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on international and regional security issues, defense relations between the two countries, and arrangements for exchanges between the two militaries in 1998. Xiong Guangkai and Slocombe also initialled an agreement reached between the two sides during President Jiang's visit to the United States on establishing a maritime military security consultation mechanism between the two defense ministries. The two sides also introduced the participation of their respective military forces in humanitarian relief and disaster reduction activities, and agreed to further exchange experiences in this field. During the meeting, both sides spoke highly of the consensus reached by the two heads of state on developing military-to-military relations during President Jiang's visit to the United States, and believed that the establishment of a regular consultation mechanism between the two defense ministries is a practical step in China and the United States 'efforts to build a constructive strategic partnership oriented to the 21st century. The two sides stated that they will conscientiously implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and further promote mutual understanding and the development of friendly relations between the two militaries. Xiong Guangkai also exchanged views on relevant international and bilateral issues with Steinberg, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and Ross, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, at the U.S. State Department.