China Coast Guard Hosts Regional Maritime Law Enforcement Summit in Hangzhou

The China Coast Guard convened the high-level meeting of the 22nd Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) on September 8, 2026, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The event brought together 124 representatives from maritime law enforcement agencies across 23 countries and territories—including South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam—alongside two international organizations and Chinese authorities. Marking the first time the China Coast Guard has hosted a pan-Asia-Pacific multilateral forum, the agenda centered on non-traditional maritime security, environmental enforcement, and regional operational cooperation.

The meeting serves as an operational diplomatic platform that convenes maritime forces from across the Indo-Pacific, including countries with overlapping maritime jurisdictions such as Vietnam. By focusing on non-traditional security challenges—including search and rescue, information sharing, and marine ecological protection—the summit reflects an effort to maintain baseline operational communication and functional cooperation despite broader geopolitical frictions in Asian waters.

The China Coast Guard has hosted its first pan-Asia-Pacific multilateral international conference, convening the high-level session of the 22nd Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, according to state media reports. The meeting, which opened on September 8, 2026, brought together 124 participants. Attendees included delegates from maritime law enforcement agencies across 23 countries and territories—such as South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam—as well as representatives from two international organizations and relevant Chinese government departments, according to reporting by Xinhua. Discussions during the conference focused on six priority agenda items: preventing and combating illicit maritime activities, maritime search and rescue, marine ecological environmental protection, information sharing, joint exercises, and institutional capacity building. Official reports noted that the agenda was designed in response to an increasingly complex maritime environment characterized by overlapping traditional and non-traditional security risks. In addition to technical working discussions, the conference held thematic seminars focused on non-traditional security topics, specifically centering on implementing China's Global Security Initiative and establishing law enforcement frameworks for ocean carbon sinks. These sessions were framed around broader regional governance objectives and Beijing's initiative to build a "maritime community with a shared future." The convening also coincides with the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the Coast Guard Law of the People's Republic of China, which took effect in 2021. According to official disclosures, the China Coast Guard used the Hangzhou forum to present professional exchanges on marine carbon sink enforcement, seeking to demonstrate modern maritime governance practices while pursuing deeper pragmatic cooperation with neighboring coast guards to address shared operational risks.