The Marine Corps of the People's Liberation Army Navy conducted its first live-fire drills in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region over the weekend, the Navy said in a statement.

During the exercises that started on Friday at a training base in a desert, a Marine Corps battalion sent marines, artillery units and armored vehicles to launch simulated offensives against a heavily armed infantry company from the Xinjiang Military Command. Taking advantage of its better mobility and stronger firepower, the Marine Corps battalion overpowered the infantry company and occupied the designated areas, the Navy said.

It added this is the farthest and longest training operation the Marine Corps has ever conducted.