China will hold a joint nautical rescue exercise in Shanghai on July 7, Vice Minister of Communications Xu Zuyuan announced on Tuesday in Beijing.

Nearly 1,000 people, 30 ships and five aircraft will participate in the exercise which is designed to show China's capabilities to deal with emergency situation, search for people missing after mishap on the sea, put out a fire on ship, clear away oil leakage and conduct security guard on ships.

During a press conference, Xu said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) will send two airplanes to attend the exercise.

The rescue institutions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and the maritime affairs departments of Russia, the United States, and ten ASEAN member countries will send representatives to see the exercise while the Republic of Korea and Japan will send patrol craft to observe.

Xu said the scheduled exercise is an important step in carrying out the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Transport Cooperation signed with the 10-member ASEAN last November.

Liu Gongchen, deputy executive director general of the Maritime Safety Administration, said this is the first time for foreigners to observe China's rescue system.

The exercise will be jointly carried out by 24 departments including East China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, from 10:45 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. on July 7 in sea waters off the Yangshan Port of Shanghai.

The ministry will also invite 50 civilians to observe the exercise. This is the first time for the government to invite ordinary citizens to see such an exercise.

After the exercise, two patrol craft participating in the exercise will berth at the Shanghai port for a public visit. Shanghai port became the second largest port in the world in 2004, with 580,000 ships passing in and out.

Xu said Shanghai port has become the leading port in China and its security is very important to the regional and national economy.

Source: Xinhua