Under a sunny sky on Thursday morning, five Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy ships gleamed at dock on Piers 7 and 8 of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Between the two piers, the fleet's soccer team of about 10 players was warming up for an afternoon match with the team from the USS Santa Fe, a Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine.

Soccer is just one of several games that PLA Taskforce 153 will take part in as part of the Rim of the Pacific multilateral naval exercises, better known as RIMPAC 2016.

China first participated in the biennial RIMPAC in 2014. The fleet this time is comprised of five ships - the missile destroyer Xi'an; missile frigate Hengshui; supply ship Gaoyouhu; hospital ship Peace Ark; submarine rescue vessel Changdao; three helicopters, a marine squad and a diving squad. All in all, the crew of 1,200 officers and soldiers is only topped by the US and Canada in number.

On the deck of the missile destroyer Xi'an on Thursday morning, Wu Xi, deputy chief of mission of the Chinese embassy in Washington, led an embassy delegation tour of the ship. Earlier she had visited the Peace Ark, the only member of the Chinese fleet that was in RIMPAC last time around.

Wu said it was her third tour of Chinese PLA Navy ships visiting the US. "I am excited every time I come," she said, "because I can see the development of our military power, the strength of our nation and the growing military-to-military exchanges between China and the United States."

She emphasized that despite its growing power, China will be a strong force for maintaining peace.