(VOVworld) – Senior officials of ASEAN and China on Thursday produced the first draft of a legal framework for a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

All 10 ASEAN members and China will resume discussion on the document at a meeting of senior officials in May in China. The draft has yet not been publicly released.

ASEAN and China started negotiations on the COC in 2010 and aimed to complete its draft framework in the middle of this year.