International Army Games 2018: Seaborne Assault Contest kicks off in China

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The 2018 International Army Games consist of 28 military competitions. China organizes four of them, including 3 held in Northwest China's Xinjiang and one in East China's Fujian province. CGTN's Wu Lei was at the opening ceremony of the Seaborne Assault contest in Fujian and brings us more.

It is the Chinese Navy's first time to host the seaborne assault contest. Hundreds of Marines from Iran, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela and China will compete in three areas including an obstacle course, survival trail and relay race from July 30th to Aug 10th.

KONG JUN CHINESE MARINE CORPS COMMANDER "This game is like an Olympic game, but for the military field. Every country's army and every soldier is looking forward to showing their capability and strength through this platform."

After some traditional Chinese and Russian song and dance performances, the Chinese Marine Corps performed three-dimensional landing operations, including a ship-borne helicopter, amphibious armored combat vehicle and hovercraft.

KOVALENKO, REAR ADMIRAL DEPUTY COMMANDER OF RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET "I am very happy to see that all preparations are going well. Let's expect every team to achieve great results."

In order to guarantee a fair and transparent competition, there are around 120 referees from the 5 participating countries.

CHEN SHENG, REFEREE INTERNATIONAL ARMY GAMES 2018 "If there are some disputes in the competition, then we will use the footage from the camera and drone to decide, and ensure the fairness of the game."

All the participants will use Chinese equipment during the event. The games provide a platform for different armies to promote friendship and learn from each other.

TILAL ALI ALRAYAH ALSIDDIG SUDANESE MILITARY ATTACHE "And we are here with other teams from other countries in order to get more and more experience from China. It is a good opportunity to join the training with especially more than one country. So we think we will have a very good benefit of participating in this event."

The contest is expected to attract thousands of visitors. Li Sa came all the way from Shenzhen to watch this army game with his children.

LI SA SHENZHEN RESIDENT "The military performance is really impressive. My sons are very happy and excited to watch this."

The International Army Games are an annual event that was initiated by Russia in 2014. China has been invited to take part in the games for five years in a row.

WU LEI, CGTN.