Officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on September 14 began talks in China on forging a legally binding Code of Conduct (COC) to help ease tensions in the East Sea.

During the two-day talks in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, working-level officials of both sides discussed details of the proposed COC, and forwarded conclusions to their senior officials.

They also discussed the implementation of the nonbinding Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the East Sea, adopted by the two sides in 2002.

The outcomes of the talks will be incorporated in a joint statement to be issued by leaders of the two sides after their summit in Brunei next month.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.