China’s top admiral offered his US counterpart a warm welcome on Sunday when Admiral Gary Roughead arrived in China for events to mark the 60th anniversary of the Chinese navy.

Admiral Wu Shengli offered to fly Admiral Roughead on his military aircraft from Beijing to Qingdao, where naval ships will participate on Thursday in an inter­national fleet review. While the gesture may herald better relations, defence experts say US-China military ties are not yet back on track having been derailed last October by the Bush administration’s decision to sell $6.5bn (€5.0bn, £4.4bn) of weapons to Taiwan.