They re-asserted their commitments to respecting and fully realizing the DOC and agreed to work towards to the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
The participants stressed the importance of ensuring peace, stability, maritime security and safety, of solving disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).
The meeting highlighted achievements in the implementation of DOC, especially in restarting the ASEAN-China senior officials' meeting and reaffirmed that the declaration was an important document for building build trust in the region.
On the occasion, ASEAN also suggested the need to soon start working with China on creating the Code of Conduct.
The event was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh and his Chinese counterpart, Cheng Guoping.
By Thuy Dung