KUALA LUMPUR - Six major Chinese arms trading firms were among 850 exhibitors at the 13th biannual Defense Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur that started on Monday.

Malaysia's Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi officiated the opening ceremony at the Putra World Trade Centre where thousands of foreign military personnel attended.

Malaysia's King, Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah and the Brunei monarch also visited the exhibition.

Chinese defense manufacturers China North Industries Corporation, the China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation, China Poly Technologies, China Shipbuilding Trading Co Ltd, CETC International Co Ltd and Aerospace Long- march International Trade Co Ltd presented an overview of the country's capability in the defense industry at the Chinese pavilion at the exhibition.

"We promote strategies and an overall defense system instead of individual weapons," Dang Nan, vice president of China National Precision Machinery told Xinhua.

These Chinese state-authorized manufacturers have trade ties with countries in different parts of the world, but their arms exports are strictly regulated by China's policy that bars exported weapons from being used to threaten world security or interfere civil affairs, China's defense department said.

The four-day exhibition that will end on April 19 sees the participation of UK-based ADS, BAE, French DCN, Portugal's EID and Serbia's Yugoimport SDPR.