Chinese coast guard ship visits Vietnam

HANOI - A ship of the China Coast Guard (CCG) is paying a visit to Vietnam, the first of this kind to the Southeast Asian neighbor.

The CCG ship coded 46305 arrived Thursday at the port in Vietnam's northern city of Hai Phong, some 90 km east of capital Hanoi, on a three-day friendly visit.

The CCG ship was welcomed by the Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) leaders. On Thursday afternoon, the two sides played sports games including volleyball, table tennis and tug of war among others.

Local citizens and representatives of Chinese enterprises in Vietam toured the ship on Friday.

According to the CCG, the visit is a part of the first meeting minute signed by coast guards of China and Vietnam on Aug 26. It is also an activity to realize consensus reached by Chinese and Vietnamese prime ministers during the latter's tour to China in September, aiming to increase joint fishery patrols in the Beibu Gulf.

Over the past few years, the CCG and VCG have conducted joint maritime search and rescue exercises, personnel communication and law enforcement cooperation.

Prior to the visit, China and Vietnam just concluded a three-day joint patrol mission in a common fishing zone in the Beibu Gulf on Wednesday.

Coast guards from both sides completed a series of scheduled tasks, including a joint patrol, maritime search and rescue exercise, and examination of fishing boats.