The Chinese army pledged to continue promoting relations with the Italian army. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), made the remark when meeting with Paolo Sandalli, deputy chief of the 3rd Department, Plans and Military Policy of the Italian Defense General Staff, who came to Beijing to attend the 7th staff talks between two sides' defense, the Chinese News Agency (Xinhua) reported today. Ma said China and Italy have been currently keeping frequent high-level exchange and deepening political mutual trust. He acknowledged the fast development of the bilateral trade and two-way investment, as well as personnel exchanges between China and Italy. Ma said the two countries have effectively cooperated in trade, economy, culture, science and tourism. Relations between the two sides' armies also witnessed continuous development with the comprehensive progress of China-Italy friendly ties, Ma said. Sandalli said the two countries have maintained sound bilateral ties and cooperation. " Italy has the desire to fix the effective cooperation scheme with China and explore extensive cooperation in all fields," Sandalli added.