The 25-year-old China-US Marine and Fishery Science and Technology Cooperation Protocol, which sets out guidelines for cooperation, was renewed on Wednesday.

Parts of the protocol -- which was first signed on May 8, 1979 -- were amended to broaden the resources of the participants and included provisions regarding intellectual property rights, said a statement from the State Oceanic Administration.

The amendments also touch on issues of handling confidentiality of information and equipment used for security, national defense or diplomatic interests.

For the past 25 years, the parties have cooperated in such fields as the role of the ocean in climate change, marine information and data exchange and conservation of marine living resources. They have also worked together on integrated coastal zone management, marine environmental services and polar research.

The joint efforts contribute to the effective protection of the marine environment, rational development and utilization of marine resources, realization of sustainable development of the ocean as well as economic development.

The United States is working with China and other countries to formulate plans for the construction and maintenance of a global Earth observation system to meet environmental challenges, said Conrad Lautenbacher, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States.

(China Daily July 22, 2004)