Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Beijing yesterday for a four-day visit, the latest sign of the warming ties between the two armed forces.

Invited by Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army Liang Guanglie, Pace is the first high-ranking US military officer to visit China this year.

"Your visit is one of the most important China-US military exchanges this year," Liang told Pace yesterday afternoon after a welcoming ceremony.

Pace said: "I agree with you this visit is very important for the two countries. I truly believe the future is very great for both China and the United States."

Pace said he and Liang should "help each other, understand each other and find ways to do good things for the future of the two countries."

"I look forward to our discussions," Pace said before the closed-door talks began in Bayi Building, the seat of China's Central Military Commission (CMC), China's top military authority.

It is Pace's first China visit since he was sworn in as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2005. Pace will also hold a seminar with researchers with the PLA Military Science Academy today.

The four-day trip will include a visit to China's military areas and institutions.

Pace will meet with the leaders of military areas in Shenyang and Nanjing.

Pace's visit is part of an increasing number of high-level visits between Chinese and US armed forces over the past years.

Guo Boxiong paid a week-long visit last July at the invitation of then-US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

William Fallon, Commander of US forces in the Pacific, came to China last May and August.

He invited a Chinese delegation to observe a US military exercise in Guam last June, the first invitation of its kind extended by the United States.

Yet analysts say there are still obstacles preventing China-US military ties from going forward, including the Taiwan issue.

In late February, the US Department of Defense announced that it planned to sell Taiwan more than 400 missiles worth US$421 million.