A Chinese flotilla from the naval wing of People's Liberation Army is scheduled to arrive in Iran today on the second visit of its kind. The fleet, comprising two warships, a logistics vessel and a helicopter, will dock at Iran's principal naval port in Bandar Abbas. In 2014, two Chinese warships visited Iran for the first time and took part in a four-day joint naval exercises focusing on exchange of information and intelligence and relief and rescue operations in the strategic Persian Gulf. The visit was in response to a 2013 trip by Iranian warships to China. The group, consisted of the Khark helicopter carrier and Sabalan destroyer, docked in China's southern port city of Zhangjigang. Defense ties between Iran and China have grown stronger in recent years. During a November 2016 visit by Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan to Iran, the two sides signed cooperation agreements covering military training and counterterrorism collaboration.
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