BEIJING / WASHINGTON - China and the United States began efforts to thaw what has been a military-to-military relationship of peaks and valleys, and while Chinese experts said they were uncertain where relations were headed, they said the recent meeting helped re-establish contact between the two ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit to the US early next year.

On Dec 10, US and Chinese military officials met in Washington to discuss North Korea and maritime security in a bid to restart once-frozen bilateral military ties.

The talks were co-chaired by General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, and Michele Flournoy, US undersecretary of defense for policy.