The document attached to this article is an unofficial English translation of the Agreement, which was originally provided in 2 official versions of Chinese and Vietnamese only. The contents and wordings of this English version were checked vis a vis the official Vietnamese version by the editor who is capable of both English and Vietnamese. 

• Summary

This legal document contains the English version of the Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, signed on 25 December 2000. Article 3 of this Agreement defines a Common Fishery Zone, which extends 30.5 nautical miles into the exclusive economic zones of the two countries from the demarcation line determined in the Delimitation Agreement on Tonkin Gulf, southerly to the closing line of the Tonkin Gulf, and northerly to the 20″ N Latitude. The coordinates of points constituting the Common Fishery Zone are specified in Article 3 of the Agreement. Article 13 makes provision for the establishment of the Sino-Vietnamese Joint Committee for Fishery in the Tonkin Gulf in order to implement the Agreement, which shall consist of two representatives respectively appointed by both Governments and several committee members. The rights and responsibilities of both contracting parties and their vessels for the purpose of fishing are stated in the Agreement, which shall be monitored by respective Governments and the Joint Committee. Article 12 also provides a buffer zone starting from the Beilun estuary (point 1 of Sino-Vietnamese delimitation line in the Delimitation Agreement on Tonkin Gulf), whose coordinates are specified in Article 12.

Finally, Article 22.2 clarifies that this Agreement shall enter into force after both parties carried out necessary domestic legal procedures, become valid for a period of 12 years, and extend for another 3 years afterward automatically. The extension of the Agreement after that fifteen-year period shall be negotiated by both Parties. However, after the Agreement entered into force on 30 June 2004-2019, the two countries only extended it for one year until 30 June 2020. After its expiration in 2020, there has been no announcement of new negotiation for the extension of the Agreement.

•  Document: Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 25 December 2000 (English version)