China calls for co-operation to protect marine water quality

China has called for closer co-operation with nearby countries in order to protect the marine environment from the risks of oil spills.

Last week, the country held its first ever international drill against oil spills in conjunction with South Korea, China Daily reports.

As part of the initiative, 29 vessels - including two from South Korea - joined a fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter and 500 people for a runthrough of operations to protect the marine water quality in the event of a spill.

Zhong Xiaodong, deputy coordinator of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan under the United Nations Environment Programme's Regional Sea Programme, said: "The north-west Pacific region is currently one of the seas with the highest risk of oil spills."

He ascribed this risk to the large amount of oil importing form China, Japan and South Korea, with around 400 oil tankers sailing to and from China alone each day.

IAGS reports that China is the second-largest user of oil worldwide, being only behind the US in its consumption of crude.