China said Thursday that installing global missile defense systems would not contribute to the strategic balance or world stability.

"The Chinese government is convinced that setting up missile defense systems globally, including deploying such systems somewhere in the world and cooperating on this issue, is not conducive to mutual trust among countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russia would deploy short-range Iskander missiles in its Baltic Sea enclave, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, in response to US plans to set up a missile shield in the area.

The Iskander has a range of about 280 km and can carry nuclear warheads.

"The involved countries should carefully measure and react to the concerns of other countries," Qin said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2008)