The Chinese military has announced a two-stage live-fire exercise in the waters off the Leizhou Peninsula from July 25 to August 2.

The South China War Command's air force announced yesterday that it would hold live fire drills in an area off the west coast of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong Province.

All activities of catching and transporting sea freight are prohibited in the rehearsal area to ensure safety for the local people, because the rehearsal force will use "highly destructive" bullets, the military.

China organizes drills in the context of escalating tensions with the United States on a variety of issues, including trade, diplomacy, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Covid-19.

The location of China held a live-fire drill rehearsal on July 25-27 (yellow) and July 28-2 / 8 (green).

Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong expert, said it was a routine exercise in China, but could be seen as an attempt to improve its military readiness to cope with increasingly surveillance.

"As the US strengthens its close supervision of China and the risk of an incident increases, the PLA needs to be prepared in time," Song Zhongping said.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported in May that the Chinese military planned a large-scale coastal exercise near Hainan Island in August.

Song Zhongping said the real-time shooting exercise on July 27-2 could pave the way for the said coastal exercise.

China intensified its training and exercise activities after the US Navy repeatedly held joint exercises in the South China Sea and surrounding areas, with the participation of aircraft carrier and warship groups of many

South China War Zone Command said on July 23 that it had conducted anti-submarine warfare training in early July. PLA Daily, China's military mouthpiece, posted photos showing the underground hunting aircraft.