China is a signatory to the LOS Convention and deals with maritime affairs according to its rules and principles.

And finally, they have different objectives: The US aims to build a US-led global ocean system. China focuses on building a "harmonious ocean" to maintain lasting peace and security on the sea.

Despite their differences, China and the US have a convergence of maritime interests and concerns that mean both sides can cooperate on maritime security.

An international priority is to maintain the security and safety of SLOC and free navigation. Protecting SLOC, especially energy supply lines, and ensuring freedom of navigation are in the economic and security interests of both China and the US.

Just as important is the need to guarantee freedom of trade. China and the US are the world's two leading trading powers and freedom of trade is a mutual and reasonable expectation. The Asia-Pacific region is an especially important export market and investment destination for the US and maintaining a close economic relationship with it via the sea is essential for US national interests.

Another reason for greater China-US maritime cooperation is that the sea is a platform for security cooperation and an arena for joint initiatives between the two countries.

Integral to freedom of trade is dealing with both traditional and non-traditional maritime security threats including arms proliferation, piracy and smuggling.

No single country in the world has sufficient resources to ensure complete safety of the oceans. Greater China-US cooperation would be beneficial to both countries, and indeed the world. The potential range of cooperation covers joint maritime search and rescue and peacekeeping, as well as jointly fighting traditional and non-traditional security threats.

One way to foster this collaboration would be to establish maritime security cooperation institutions, where the two countries could negotiate and coordinate maritime security issues and jointly deal with maritime affairs. Also on the agenda should be proposals for ocean governance at both regional and global levels and listing maritime issues on the agenda of existing multilateral cooperation institutions, such as the G20 and APEC.

The author is director of Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

(China Daily 07/26/2011 page8)