BEIJING -- China's participation in the Vostok-2018 (or East-2018) strategic drills in Russia would promote regional peace and stability, and was not targeting any third parties, China's Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.

"In recent years, China-Russia joint military training has already been institutionalized and normalized through bilateral arrangements or under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization mechanism," Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the ministry, said at a regular press conference.

"Whether China will continue to participate in strategic drills in Russia on a regular basis depends on the requirement of security needs and is up to the two countries."

On recent US sanctions of a Chinese military unit, Ren said that China-Russia military cooperation is legal under international law, and the United States has no right to interfere.

"The military technology cooperation projects between China and Russia are proceeding as planned, and both sides will further promote cooperation based on the principle of mutual benefit and consensus-building," Ren said.

The US State Department announced last Thursday that it would impose sanctions on the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission and the department's director, alleging that China had violated the "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act."