By Liu Xiongma and Cheng Xinan

The island survival training of the Pandaroo-2019 joint military drill between the Chinese and Australian ground forces concluded at the training ground of a brigade under the PLA 74th Group Army on Monday.

During the training, team members from both countries carried out wilderness survival skills training including getting water, making fire, cooking and camping during three days and two nights on the desert island.

Wilderness survival training on the tropical islands requires the participants to face the harsh environment of high temperature, high humidity and high salinity without food and fresh water supply.

Zhang Zijian from the PLA worked closely with his Australian counterparts and successfully diluted seawater by distillation. They obtained drinking water for the first time on the afternoon of October 11. Other Chinese and Australian players also obtained drinking water through different ways.

Adhering to the principle of "cooperation, trust and exchange", the Chinese and Australian sides each sent 10 officers and soldiers to participate in the training, which features "comprehensive field skills of the army" and highlights the characteristics of the tropical islands. The two sides jointly practiced comprehensive skills in the wilderness, focusing on cultivating the will, quality and solidarity of the participants.

During the next stage of the joint training, the two sides will focus on subjects including obstacle race, orienteering and sea kayaking.