Senior officials of China, ASEAN nations meet on South China Sea cooperation

Senior officials from China and ASEAN member countries met Saturday in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, to further coordinate on the South China Sea, agreeing to continue efforts for peace, tranquility and common development in the area.

An aerial photo of the South China Sea. [File photo: Xinhua]

At the meeting, all sides made in-depth exchanges of views on comprehensive, effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), further pragmatic maritime cooperation as well as consultation of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC), according to a Foreign Ministry press release.

The participants of the 17th Senior Officials' Meeting on the Implementation of the DOC agreed to implement the DOC comprehensively and effectively, speed up the negotiation of the COC and strive for an early result, said the press release.

They also reached consensus on some new maritime projects of cooperation.