MANZHOULI, China -- The Chinese government aims to make substantial progress on a binding code of conduct for the South China Sea by the middle of next year, its representative in talks with Southeast Asia's regional bloc said Tuesday.
Officials from China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathered here in Inner Mongolia to continue discussions on such a code that have been held intermittently since September 2013. Tuesday's session was the first since an international arbitral tribunal ruled against sweeping Chinese claims over the sea July 12 in a case brought by the Philippines.
