Senior Chinese and Malaysian military officials agreed Monday to further strengthen military cooperation between the two countries in a bid to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Positive signs have been seen during the first China-Malaysia defense and security consultation and the talks between Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and senior Malaysian officials including Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

China and Malaysia should strengthen mutual trust while broaden cooperation in order to safeguard common interests and address the challenge faced by both countries in the context of a complicated global and regional situation, said Ma during his talks with Zahid Hamidi.

The Malaysian defense minister praised China for its positive role in bilateral cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1974.

Malaysia sees China as its close partner, and is willing to solve disputes between the two countries through bilateral negotiations, Zahid Hamidi said.

He hopes the defense ministries and the armed forces of the two countries continue their efforts in strengthening mutual exchange and cooperation.

Recalling his visit to China last year, Zahid Hamidi told a press conference after the meeting that Ma's visit was " meaningful", and some achievements have been made in the two visits.

During the defense and security consultation co-chaired by Ma and Ismail Ahmad, Secretary General of Malaysian Defense Ministry earlier in the day, the two sides reached consensus in a broad range of issues to strengthen exchange and cooperation between the PLA and Malaysian Armed Forces.

Both sides agreed to maintain high level military exchange between the armed forces, make good use of the defense and security consultation mechanism, strengthen exchange and communication in training cooperation and training system, while deepen cooperation in non-conventional security issues.

The military officials of the two countries also agreed that the two sides should make efforts to maintain peace and security in the region for the common interest.

Ma arrived here after visiting Vietnam and Myanmar. He also met with Chief of Malaysian Armed Forces Zulkifeli Mohd.Zin on Monday and the two agreed on more cooperation and exchange between the PLA and Malaysian Armed Forces.