A senior Chinese military officer is visiting the Horn of Africa country Djibouti, where he inspected a Chinese warship participating in anti-piracy patrols, China's Defence Ministry said.
In May, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh told French media his government was in talks with China about a military base in the country, adding that Beijing's presence would be welcome in the former French colony, which borders Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
The Chinese government would neither confirmed nor deny the report.