China, Russia reach consensus on fishery issue

BEIJING - China and Russia have reached a two-point consensus on a fishery issue and the detained Chinese fishermen may return home soon, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Hong Lei said in a press release that diplomatic departments of the two countries, with the spirit of friendly consultation, are closely cooperating with each other to complete procedures to arrange for the detained Chinese fishermen to return home.

The first point of the consensus is that China and Russia will hold consultations on fishery cooperation, and the two sides will discuss various issues, including Russia granting China some fishing quotas in exchange for China giving Russia corresponding compensation.

The second point is that the two sides will set up a security cooperation mechanism on maritime law enforcement in order to prevent illegal fishing from happening again, Hong said.

The spokesman on Friday confirmed that two Chinese fishing vessels were recently detained by Russia following the seizure of two fishing vessels in mid-July.