China’s participation in Vostok 2018, Russia’s largest military exercise for 37 years, will enhance the counter-attacking capabilities of its armed forces and reinforce ties with its northern neighbour, Beijing said on Tuesday, amid rising tensions with the United States.

Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the shift away from anti-terrorism drills to more conventional war games could pave the way for greater cooperation between China and Russia.

The People’s Liberation Army, China’s military, was “still in the process of acquiring combined arms training and expertise as it transformed into an informationised and modern fighting force”, he said.

“It’s more plausible for the PLA to use this primarily to gain valuable insights and expertise in planning and conducting large-scale combined arms manoeuvres,” he said.