China's efforts in preventing oil pollution at sea have been praised by experts at a forum in Tianjin, a coastal city 140 km southeast of Beijing.

China had developed a good prevention and emergency mechanism, experts said.

Chinese judges and renowned maritime environmental experts were invited to the International Forum of Maritime Environment Protection Laws to discuss ways to prevent sea oil pollution.

China faced problems in preventing oil pollution all along its 18,000-km-long coastline, said Ian White, managing director of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd., an international authority on sea oil pollution.

He suggested China rent pollution control facilities from countries like Singapore or Japan as a cheaper alternative to buying them.

Judge Li, president of Tianjin's admiralty court, said the growth of maritime oil shipping increased the risk of leaks and a law was needed to deal with civil liabilities arising from pollution by coastal ships.

China had adopted many measures to prevent oil pollution, such as signing international treaties, training ship owners and cooperating with insurance institutions both at home and abroad.

China imported 88.31 million tons of oil in 2000 and is expected to become the world's fourth largest oil importer in the 21st century, with a possible cargo-handling capacity of 405 million tons a year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2002)