Tours of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the littoral combat ship USS Coronado by Chinese Chief of General Staff, General Fang Fenghui during his visit to the United States are signs of both sides' will to improve military relations.

Fang's landing on the US aircraft carrier is a reciprocal gesture after US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was invited to tour the Liaoning, China's first, and so far only carrier. With China's enhanced efforts to render its military more transparent, Beijing and Washington have raised their military exchanges and cooperation to a new level.

Opening the USS Coronado to Chinese military top brass shows the US military's willingness to engage with the Chinese military cooperatively.