The defense ministers of 16 countries will attend the sixth Xiangshan Forum in Beijing from Oct. 16 to 18, a Chinese military official revealed Monday.

The 16 countries include Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia, said Maj. Gen. Huang Bofu of the People's Liberation Army, who is also the deputy secretary-general of the sixth Xiangshan Forum secretariat, at a press briefing.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will also attend and speak at the event, according to Huang.

So far 49 countries and four international organizations have confirmed their presence at the event, according to a statement from the China Association for Military Science and China Institute for International Strategic Studies.

The forum was launched in 2006 and has been held once every two years from 2006 to 2014. From this year the event will be held annually and more foreign defense officials and scholars will be invited.