(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) onburi Thailand April 24 - Senior Chinese and ASEAN officials attending two back-to-back meetings that concluded here have pledged to further strengthen China-ASEAN cooperation in a wide range of fields such as maritime search and rescue security and trade. Participating officials agreed to push forward the building of China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Partnership and make good use of the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund China's Vice Foreign Minister of China Liu Zhenmin said at a press conference held here on Thursday after two days of closed meetings. Liu and Thailand's Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow co-chaired the 7th ASEAN-China Senior Officials' Meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the 20th ASEAN- China Senior Officials' Consultation (20th ACSOC) in Pattaya of Chonburi Province. The two said that both meetings have proved to be fruitful according to China's (Xinhua) News Agency. Officials exchanged views on how to improve the efficiency of implementation of the DOC and expand the scope of maritime practical cooperation between relevant departments Liu said. China suggested setting up three technical committees respectively regarding maritime search and rescue combating cross- border crimes and maritime scientific research and environment protection he said. "These technical committees will facilitate the implementation of the DOC" he added. Maybe within the year a hotline could be set up for search and rescue at sea which could be a tangible achievement in the process of implementing the DOC Liu noted. Chinese and ASEAN officials agreed to strengthen cooperation in defense and security and discuss the regularization of China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Liu said. "We are suggesting holding an informal defense ministers' meeting this year." Moreover the officials also reached consensus on enhancing cooperation in non-traditional security such as disaster reduction and relief combating transnational crimes and maritime law enforcement Liu said. The officials expressed their determination in continuing the efforts to achieve ASEAN-China trade target of 1 trillion dollars by 2020 it said adding China's initiative to upgrade the ASEAN China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) is an important contributor to such an endeavor. The officials agreed to maintain communication to ensure an early launch of negotiation on an upgraded ACFTA Liu said.
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