Chinese warship Xi'an docked at Pearl Harbor on Friday to participate in the ongoing Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war games.

This is the first time that Xi'an, which is only a year old, has taken a trip outside China. The 150-meter long guided missile destroyer is one of five Chinese ships training with the United States in the RIMPAC.

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"We are ready to have more exchange and cooperation with our colleagues in different countries," Sun Hong Bin, Xi'an commander, said.

US Navy Commander Arthur Fong is expecting an interesting game ahead, saying "A lot of us have never seen a Chinese navy before."

This is the second time that China has participated in RIMPAC, a war game that aims to strengthen military relations and to fight against global threats such as terrorism and piracy.

"The maritime environment is too large for any nation to protect. Exercises like RIMPAC provide an environment to strengthen regional partnerships and improve multinational interoperability," Vice Admiral Nora Tyson said.

This year's RIMPAC has 26 nation participants with 45 ships and five submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel. The war games will run between June 30 and August 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

The exercise revolves around the theme "Capable, Adaptive, Partners." Participating nations are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, People's Republic of China, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Tagschina, war games, RIMPAC, Rim of the Pacific war games, Pearl Harbor, Navy