Key events include high-level meetings between the commanders of the Vietnamese and Chinese patrol fleets, friendly sports exchanges between naval officers and sailors of both countries, and the countries’ 38th joint patrol in the Gulf’s waters.
Vietnam on March 7, 2025 deposited with the UN Secretary-General the chart showing straight baselines and outer limits of the territorial sea, as well as a list of geographic coordinates of points regarding the baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea of the mainland territory of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The joint patrol, spanning from Point 1 to Point 9 along the demarcation line of the Gulf of Tonkin, covered a distance of 120 nautical miles. This area has seen vibrant export-import activities and goods exchange between Vietnam and China, but it is also abused for smuggling, trade fraud, illegal transport of goods, and unauthorised border crossings by sea.
The Vietnamese Government issued on February 21 a declaration establishing the baseline for measuring the breadth of Vietnam's territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) and its Chinese counterpart on December 24 conducted the fourth joint patrol in the northern waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of Mong Cai city in the northern province of Quang Ninh and Dongxing city in China's Guangxi province.
Super Typhoon Yagi is currently about 620km southeast of the northeastern coastal province of Quang Ninh and will make a landfall on September 7, said the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed an official dispatch demanding efforts to be hastened in response to the approaching Typhoon Yagi, which intensified into a super typhoon on September 5 morning.
The northern localities of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh are predicted to be most heavily impacted by Typhoon Yagi, the third to enter the East Sea this year and considered the strongest hitting the Gulf of Tonkin in a decade, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Hoang Phuc Lam has said.
With the dream of conquering the sea, since ancient times, Vietnamese people have settled in islands across the Gulf of Tonkin. Today, these island districts are bright spots in the development of the marine economy in the North of Vietnam.
Vietnam requests that China respect and comply with the Agreement on the delimitation of the territorial sea, exclusive economic zones and continental shelf between the two countries in the Tonkin Gulf signed in 2000, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang.
The coast guards of Vietnam and China will conduct joint patrol quarterly to prevent crimes and violations in the waters adjacent to the delimitation line in the Gulf of Tonkin, heard an online meeting between the two sides held on January 31.
The coast guards of Vietnam and China conducted a joint patrol from November 29 to December 1 on the waters adjacent to the demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin, contributing to strengthening peace, stability and the rule of law at sea.
The verification council for a plan on the system of fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050, convened a meeting in Hanoi on November 23 under the chair of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang.
The coast guard forces of Vietnam and China conducted a joint patrol on the waters adjacent to the two countries’ delimitation line in the Gulf of Tonkin from April 11 – 13.
Ships 8004 and 8003 of the Vietnam Coast Guard left Dinh Vu port in Hai Phong city on April 9 afternoon for a joint patrol with the China Coast Guard in the waters adjacent to the Gulf of Tonkin demarcation line.
A delegation from the China Coast Guard (CCG) led by its Director Maj. Gen Yu Zhong held a working session with the High Command of Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) Region 1 on December 8, as part of the first exchange programme “Vietnam coast guards and friends” in 2022.
The Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) and the China Coast Guard (CCG) held high-level talks on promoting cooperation in maritime law enforcement in the region within the framework of an exchange programme in Hanoi on December 7.
The Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) and the China Coast Guard (CCG) successfully conducted their second joint patrol in 2022 in the waters adjacent to the demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin from November 3-5.
The Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) and the China Coast Guard (CCG) on November 3 kick-started their second joint patrol in 2022 in the waters adjacent to the demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin.
