China vows to intensify efforts on flight search

Minister promises no slackening, invites companies to join the hunt

Transport Minister Yang Chuantang said in Canberra, Australia, on Monday that China will continue with uninterrupted and intensified efforts in the search for missing flight MH370.

The search in the next phase will "not be interrupted, not be suspended, not be given up and not be slackened", based on the consensus reached at a trilateral meeting, Yang told a news conference following a ministerial meeting between Australia, Malaysia and China.

"We know clearly that the area of the follow-up search is even broader, with more difficulties and tougher tasks. The Chinese government will, as always, try its utmost to make every possible effort to participate in the search," he said.

Yang promised that whether now or in the future, China will proactively participate in the search and make due contributions to the gigantic task in terms of expertise, assets and financing.

China will deploy three vessels in the transitional period of the search for the missing plane, Yang said.

In addition, China supports the participation of private companies with advantages in technology, equipment and capabilities.

The Chinese government also encourages Chinese companies or organizations that have capabilities to take part in the deepwater search.

China will continue to send experts to participate in the identification and verification of the search plan and the investigation of the mystery of MH370, Yang said.

He vowed China would work closely with Malaysia and Australia based on the communique reached at the meeting.

"So long as the three nations closely collaborate with each other and materialize the joint communique seriously, we, with our pragmatic work, will respond to the expectations of the international community, provide closure to the relatives of people onboard, and discharge our duties and responsibilities," he said.

Yang, as head of the Chinese delegation, had a talk on Monday with Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss.

Arriving for the meeting, Hishammuddin told reporters that he hoped the meeting would put the structure for the future of the search in place.

"We are now going to deepsea search, which requires specific assets," he said, adding that there have been many countries that want to come aboard the search operation.

"The fact that three delegations, big delegations, are sitting down together and looking forward is already a huge achievement," he said.

A joint communique was released after the meeting, introducing the arrangement for the next stage of the search, including conducting an oceanographic mapping of the sea floor in the underwater search area.

An international panel of experts will re-examine all data gathered in the nearly two-month hunt for the missing jet to ensure search crews have been looking in the right place.

Starting Wednesday, that data will be re-analyzed and combined with all information gathered so far in the search, which hasn't turned up a single piece of debris, despite crews scouring more than 4.6 million square kilometers of ocean.

Investigators have been stymied by a lack of hard data since the plane vanished on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A massive search for surface debris was called off last week after officials determined any wreckage that might have been floating has likely sunk.