Chinese naval escort commander meets with EU counterpart

Enrico Credendino, commander of the European Union (EU) No. 465 naval escort taskforce, and his party went to the "Yiyang" guided missile frigate of the 12th Chinese naval escort taskforce to meet with Zhou Xuming, commander of the Chinese taskforce, on the morning of November 2, 2012, local time. This is the first meeting between the commanders of the two sides since the 12th Chinese naval escort taskforce arrived to carry out its mission in the waters of the Gulf of Aden.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged their views on the escort areas, escort operation modes and recent intelligence information, and jointly analyzed the situations and characteristics of the current pirate activities in the waters off the Somali coast. Both sides agreed that the sea conditions in the waters off the Somali coast have turned for the better since October and the piracies reached a new peak. Both sides hoped to further maintain good communication and cooperation in the future anti-pirate operations, so as to maintain the tranquility and stability of the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast.