Beijing proposes joint ASEAN drill

China will continue to deepen its defense and security cooperation with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, State Councilor and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan said in Vientiane, the Laotian capital, on Wednesday.

While attending the sixth China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting, Chang said China proposes a joint exercise with militaries from ASEAN nations on maritime search and rescue, disaster relief and application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea. The code was approved by naval officials from more than 20 Asia-Pacific countries in April 2014 at a naval symposium in China.

China would like the exercise to be conducted in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, and its coastal waters in the second quarter of 2017, Chang said.