Thailand and China had conducted their first joint exercise in 2005 with a humanitarian exercise focused on naval search and rescue techniques. This exercise commemorated the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of Thai-Chinese relations. In recent years, the mil-mil relationship had expanded via a joint counter-terrorism exercise called "Strike" held in Guangzhou, China in 2007 with approximately twenty Thai special forces troops. The exercise was repeated in 2008 when China sent special forces troops to Chiang Mai, Thailand to practice counter-terrorism operations. The Thai contingent in 2008 was of similar scale to that in 2007.