PHNOM PENH, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia hosted a reception here on Thursday to celebrate the 91st anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA), which falls on Aug. 1.

The celebratory event was attended by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo as well as some 400 guests.

Li Ningya, military attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, said over the past 91 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the PLA had accomplished numerous achievements in protecting national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the people of China as well as in contributing to maintaining peace and security in the world.

"We will continue holding aloft the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, pursuing a national defense policy which is purely defensive in nature, and making positive contributions to peace and security in the region and in the world," he said.

Lieutenant General Phat Vibolsopheak, deputy director-general of the Cambodian Defense Ministry's General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs, congratulated the PLA on the occasion and highly spoke of good cooperation between the two armies in maintaining peace in their respective countries, in the region and in the world.

"I'd like to highly value the results of military cooperation between Cambodia and China, and to express my profound gratitude to the government, PLA and people of China, as brother, who has greatly contributed to the development of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces," he said.