China, Japan to speed up preparations for air and maritime contact mechanism

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China and Japan agreed to speed up preparations for launching an air and maritime contact mechanism in their ninth round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs held in Sendai, Japan from Thursday through Friday.

Officials from the two countries' ministries on foreign affairs, defense, security, natural resources, environment, transportation, and agriculture and some other departments attended the talks.

The two sides held a plenary meeting on consultation mechanism and four working group meetings on politics and law, maritime defense, maritime law enforcement and security, as well as maritime economy.

The two sides exchanged views on issues related to the East China Sea and discussed maritime cooperation.

A general view of the East China Sea /VCG Photo

They made further progress on negotiations about launching a maritime and aerial communication mechanism between their defense departments as soon as possible, and agreed to speed up preparations for launching the mechanism.

They also agreed to enhance defense exchanges to promote mutual trust and discussed concrete plans for such exchanges.

The Border Control Department of China's Ministry of Public Security and the Japan Coast Guard agreed to continue cooperation in cracking down on transnational crimes including smuggling, drug trafficking, and exchange visits between experts according to the meeting minutes signed by both sides.

Coast guards from both countries agreed to strengthen communication and cooperation between their maritime law enforcement departments.

The two sides also held concrete discussions on an early signing of a bilateral maritime search and rescue agreement, and agreed to enhance cooperation in the fishing industry to promote its stable and healthy development.

They further exchanged views on joint research on marine geology and agreed to enhance communication and mutual understanding in the area.

They also agreed to enhance communication on issues related to the principle of consensus on East China Sea issues, and agreed in principle to hold the tenth round of high level consultations on maritime affairs in China in the later half of this year.

The China-Japan high-level consultations on maritime affairs were set up in January 2012.

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency