NANJING - International naval cooperation has to be strengthened to effectively tackle piracy, Chinese and overseas naval officials said on Thursday.

Vice-Admiral Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy, told the International Counter-Piracy & Escort Operation Symposium that piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia had, thanks to the efforts of the international community, largely been contained.

However, he added that there is still a long way to go before piracy could be eradicated.

"In this era of globalization, when ocean shipping is more closely related to our lives than ever before, jointly safeguarding navigation is in the best interests of all of us," he said.

Eighty-four representatives from 20 countries and four international organizations including NATO, the European Union, the Baltic and International Maritime Conference, and the coalition of maritime forces attended the two-day symposium.

China has provided its detailed escort schedule to the related countries for reference in order to improve the efficiency of naval escorts, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a news conference on Thursday.

"From this January, China will strengthen coordination with independent escort nations such as India and Japan, and adjust each other's escort schedules," said Geng, adding that China will be the reference for the others in the first quarter of 2012.

"This helps to optimize escort resources and to better safeguard navigation," he said.

China is always open to international escort cooperation, and actively carries out information sharing, military exchanges and joint escorts and exercises, he added.

European Naval Force Somalia Chief of Staff Captain Phil Haslam said that international cooperation had improved since the escort missions started in 2009.

He said that information sharing is so important for counter-piracy that the EU has developed the Mercury Network, an IT system that allows navies to jointly assess the situation on a minute-by-minute basis.

"It's done well because there's collective endeavor and common understanding about what we seek to do," he said.

However, more information sharing work needs to be done, according to experts.

PLA Navy Captain Hu Weibiao said e-mail and data transmission through Mercury, which is widely used, cannot fully guarantee timely communication between escort navies.

"Currently, the pirates are able to reach farther areas, their tactics have changed, and they are becoming more violent. It is difficult for any single navy or single organization to suppress piracy," he said.

The current international laws on piracy are not suitable, according to Zhang Xiaobin, an officer of PLA Navy, adding that some navies transfer the captured pirates to other countries for prosecution.

"Considering the dangers posed by pirates, evidence collection, prosecution procedures and other problems, our navy mainly takes measures to drive them away or disarm them," he said.

"The Chinese navy regards deterrence and prevention as the main principles of its engagement," he added.

According to the PLA Navy, China is one of the most active naval escorts in the world. Since December 2008, Beijing sent 10 groups with a total of 25 warships to successfully escort more than 4,500 Chinese and foreign ships, as well as the UN World Food Program's vessel carrying humanitarian aid.