The 14th Senior Officials’ Meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) will take place in Guiyang city, the Chinese southwestern province of Guizhou on May 18.

Truong Sa archipelago

Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Hua Chunying said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and senior diplomatic officials from the ASEAN countries will attend the meeting. Earlier, the 21st meeting of the Joint Working Group on the implementation of the DOC will be held. 

China and the ASEAN countries will continue with their discussion on implementing the DOC, pushing forward maritime cooperation and issues related to the negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), said Hua.

She added that China and ASEAN senior officials will talk China-ASEAN ties and cooperation within the East Asian region on May 19 in Guiyang.

The DOC, signed in 2002 by China and ASEAN member states, outlines the most important principles in the management of disputes in the East Sea. 

Consultations for the COC were launched by the two sides in 2013. 

VNA