SHANGHAI, May 22. /ITAR-TASS/. The active stage of Russian-Chinese Joint Sea 2014 naval drills begins on Thursday in the East China Sea.

A group of Russian naval ships, including the Varyag, a Slava-class missile cruiser with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine striking capabilities, the destroyer Bystry, the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev, the large amphibious ship Admiral Nevelskoy, the tanker Ilim and the sea-going tugboat Kalar arrived in China for joint naval exercises on May 18.

In the active phase, they will train at sea ship defense on anchorage, joint convoying of ships, release of a seized ship, joint activity on detecting and identifying targets and joint missile defense activity, strikes on sea targets, anti-submarine activities, search-and-rescue operations, as well as the practical use of weapons at sea, headquarters’ sources told ITAR-TASS.

A news conference summing up the results of the maneuvers will be held after the drill, as well as a seminar for the commanders of naval ships and squadrons, and a ceremony closing the naval exercise. Shanghai residents will also be able to visit Russian and Chinese warships.

On May 26, Russian ships taking part in the exercise will leave for their permanent bases with a farewell ceremony held at the berth.

The first naval drill Joint Sea was held in the Yellow Sea near the city of Qingdao in the east Chinese province of Shandong on April 22-27, 2012. A total of 25 warships and submarines, 13 warplanes, nine helicopters and two commando units participated in those war games.

Then the two nations held naval drills off Russia’s Far East coast in the Sea of Japan last July. Exercises assembling some 20 warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet and China’s North and South Sea Fleets were described by China as the largest the country had undertaken with a foreign force.