China announced on Monday that it will participate for the first time in the US-administered Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) to be held this month.

According to the People's Liberation Army Daily, a navy spokesman said that this will be the first time China will participate in a large scale US-hosted drill.

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The announcement was made just days after China slammed the Pentagon's report which said that the former had under declared its military budget by about 20 percent and suggested that China's military upgrades were made in preparation for potential conflict with the Taiwan Strait as well as in the disputed islands in the China Seas.

Despite this, the Chinese navy will be joining the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise to take part in the activities including maritime security actions, canon firing exercises, maritime warship exercises, military medicine exchanges, and humanitarian and disaster reduction drills. Aside from this, China and the U.S. will also reportedly be holding a medical forum which entails visits to each other's ships.

China will be bringing 4 ships - a destroyer, frigate, hospital ship and supply ship - and 2 helicopters for the event. Brunei and Singapore are likewise bringing ships for the exercise, Yahoo News reported.

The exercise will be held mid-June near the U.S. Pacific island of Guam.

The RIMPAC, which was established in 1971, is an international military exercise held every 2 years and is organized and administered by the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet. The exercises are devised to develop interoperability among Pacific Rim armed forces and promote stability in the region.

The 23 member nations slated to join this year's RIMPAC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, France, Indonesia, India, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Tonga, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

TagsRIMPAC, naval exercise, naval drill, maritime exercise, warfare, Rim of the Pacific exercise, World News, US news, military news, international news