China, ASEAN countries hold meeting on South China Sea

BEIJING - China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday held a meeting of senior officials on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in South China Sea.

All the participants had in-depth discussion and reached a series of consensus, said a press release posted on the Foreign Ministry's official website (www.fmprc.gov.cn).

The meeting concluded that the general situation of South China Sea is peaceful and stable, and appreciated the positive efforts from all concerned sides.

The meeting regarded 2011 as a fruitful year with positive progress made in implementing the declaration, and reached consensus on the future works, including to speed up specific cooperation projects, and to host seminars on maritime disaster-relief, environment, rescue and biology research.

All the parties agreed to set up experts committees on maritime scientific research, environmental protection, security and rescue, and on the crackdown on cross-border crimes, and to better utilize the China-ASEAN fund on maritime cooperation.