China, ASEAN eye ground rules for emergencies at sea

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends the 19th ASEAN-China Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Sept 7, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

VIENTIANE - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday adopted a set of guidelines for their senior diplomats' hotline in addressing emergencies at sea.

The two sides also issued a joint statement declaring that they agree on the application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, an international agreement reached in 2014 to reduce chances of maritime incidents, in the South China Sea.

China and the regional bloc reached the consensuses in the Laotian capital at the 19th China-ASEAN leaders' meeting, which was attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders of the 10 ASEAN members.

At the meeting, the two sides also released two joint statements respectively on the leaders' meeting marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue and on bilateral production capacity cooperation.