NANJING, April 11 -- The China Coast Guard (CCG) successfully hosted the 25th North Pacific Coast Guard Forum (NPCGF) Experts Meeting in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, from April 7 to 11. The CCG, Canadian Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Korea Coast Guard, Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation and the US Coast Guard all sent delegations to the meeting for the first time since 2019. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport sent representatives to attend the relevant activities.
The NPCGF, as an important multilateral maritime law enforcement cooperation mechanism in the Pacific region, aims to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation among maritime law enforcement agencies and jointly safeguard regional maritime security and stability.
The forum consists of seven working groups (WGs), namely the Combating Illegal Trafficking, Fisheries Enforcement, Maritime Security, Emergency Response, Information Exchange, Combined Operation, and Secretariat WGs, with the CCG serving as the rotating chair of the Secretariat WG and leading the Combating Illegal Trafficking WG.
During the meeting, the attendees had in-depth and pragmatic discussions on topics such as enhancing multilateral maritime cooperation, jointly combating illicit maritime trafficking including illegal immigration and drug trafficking, coordinating high sea fisheries enforcement patrols in the North Pacific, exchanging experience in maritime emergency rescue and ecological and environmental protection, strengthening information-sharing in law enforcement, organizing joint exercises under the forum, and safeguarding maritime security and stability. Meanwhile, preliminary consensus was reached on the cooperation plan for the annual senior officials' meeting, reflecting the member agencies' positive willingness to promote regional maritime governance through multilateral cooperation.