The first unit of attack helicopters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was viewed by journalists from home and abroad on Tuesday, ahead of the 85th anniversary of the founding of PLA, which falls on August 1.

A total of 160 journalists from 86 Chinese and overseas media organizations on Tuesday morning visited the Fourth Helicopter Regiment of the PLA Army Aviation deployed in the eastern suburb of Beijing. It is the fifth time that the media have been allowed to view PLA units prior to the Army Day since 2008.

After listening to a brief introduction by Zhang Zhilin, commander of the regiment, journalists observed various equipments in the camp, including two home-developed Z-9WZ and two Russian-made Mi-171, aircraft guns and air-to-air missiles.

Journalists later watched an air show.

"The quality of Chinese soldiers is very impressive," said Ananth Krishnan, a correspondent of India's the Hindu stationed in China. "I hope there will be more interviews of this kind in the future."

Bradley Perrett, a journalist of the U.S. Aviation Weekly, said the visit showed the PLA's active efforts to improve its transparency.

Directly under the command of the PLA Headquarters, the Fourth Helicopter Regiment has taken part in over 20 major non-combat military missions since its founding 24 years ago.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2012)