Members of the armed forces of 17 countries are in Russia for an international military competition, showing off their military skills and armaments, according to Chinese military media.

The 15-day competition, which involves about 2,000 service members from countries including China, Russia and Belarus, started on Saturday, according to a report on 81.cn.

During the competition, the 17 contingents will compete in 12 matches, including wrestling, unarmed combat and shooting arrows to show their training level, the report said.

The Chinese participants come from five main military area commands, as well as navy and air forces. They were not specially selected, since the idea was to show real ability and expose training shortcomings, the report said.

The soldiers are divided into 12 teams, including a tank team that was in the military competition last year, it said.

Liu Ying, head of the Chinese contingent, told the media that the force may face difficulties in the competition, including language barriers, equipment and rules. There is no way to prepare, since rules are given at the last minute, Liu said.

"It's different from basketball or soccer matches," Liu was quoted as saying. "We may even have no idea about a rule as little as a day before the competition."

Some competitive events that the Chinese army is good at may even be canceled in the competition, Liu said.

China is the only participant carrying its own equipment to compete this time. "Maintaining that equipment in the competition is also hard work," Liu said.

In addition, the Chinese group had little time to practice before the competition, let alone to get familiar with the competition area.

"But after the competition started, we've made efforts to overcome these difficulties, hoping to achieve a good result," Liu said.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn