China, Japan agree to speed up negotiations on air, maritime contact mechanism

HIROSHIMA, Japan, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan reached an agreement on speeding up the negotiation process on the air and maritime contact mechanism between the defense ministries of the two countries in the fifth round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs held here on Wednesday and Thursday.

The two sides agreed to devote themselves to safeguarding the peace and stability in the East China Sea.

They also agreed to hold the sixth round of expert panel consultations as soon as possible and continue to push forward the exchanges between the defense ministries of the two countries.

China's Ministry of Public Security and the Japan Coast Guard will continue cooperation in cracking down on transnational crimes, including smuggling, human smuggling and drug trafficking.

The China Coast Guard and the Japan Coast Guard agreed to give full play to the role of the existing contact mechanism and strengthen their exchange of information and personnel.

The two sides exchanged views on their sea-related policies and laws and agreed to continue carrying out dialogues in this regard.

They agreed to launch as early as possible a platform for carrying out dialogues between experts of the two countries on management of marine rubbish and to conduct a joint investigation on marine rubbish in 2017.

The two sides affirmed the importance of an early signing of a bilateral maritime search and rescue agreement and agreed to maintain communication in this regard.

They also exchanged views on the principle of consensus on East China Sea issues and agreed in principle to hold the six round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs in China within the year.

The China-Japan high-level consultations on maritime affairs were set up in January, 2012, with the first round of talks held in May of the same year in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province.