Over half the neighbors' joint drills since 2019 took place in the past six years as the quasi-alliance matures.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said that the Joint Sea 2025 exercise would be held in the air and seas near the Russian port city of Vladivostok, which lies across the sea from Japan’s west coast. Last year, the drill was held off southern China in the South China Sea.

China and Russia will hold their “Joint Sea 2025” joint naval exercise in August, followed by the sixth joint maritime patrol in the Pacific, China’s National Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. The exercise will take place in the sea and airspace near Vladivostok,