A Chinese official said that China will make joint efforts with all the countries concerned to exploit energy resources in South China Sea and seek win-win cooperation.

"Asian cooperation has become the irresistible tendency of the times and we are confident in the energy cooperation in the South China Sea," said Wei Liucheng, governor of Hainan Province, on Friday at Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), a non-governmental international forum on Asian development.

On March 14, oil corporations from China, the Philippines and Vietnam signed the tripartite agreement for a joint marine seismic undertaking in the South China Sea in Manila. This agreement expresses the desires of the three countries to jointly explore the reserves of oil resources.

"The three countries will put the promises of their governments into practice to turn the South China Sea region into a region of peace, stability, cooperation and development," said Wei.

He said the cooperation among China, the Philippines and Vietnam in oil and gas exploration indicates an important step has been taken, which will help narrow differences between China and the countries concerned so as to further enhance the cooperation and development.

The Manila Agreement shows that the disputing countries in the South China Sea can independently solve the disputes by peaceful means, said Wei.

Hainan is the only province in China that possesses administrative jurisdiction of the sea, the governor said, adding that its excellent geographical location enables Hainan to possess advantages to exploit the oil and gas in the South China Sea and to make contributions to the joint exploitation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2005)