Senior Chinese and US military officials began their sixth round of consultations on defense at vice defense ministerial level in Beijing Tuesday morning.

The Chinese side is headed by Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army; and the US side, by Douglas Jay Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy.

The annual consultations between the defense departments of the two countries began in 1997, after Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President Bill Clinton reached agreement on the consultations during Jiang's visit to the United States. The previous consultations have been held in Washington and Beijing alternately. The fifth round was held in December 2002 in Washington.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2004)