China and Brunei will cooperate in exploiting oil and gas resources in the disputed South China Sea, leaders of the two counties said on a report on November 19.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah reportedly agreed to link their countries' development plans; Beijing's "Belt and Road Initiative" and Brunei's Vision 2035 plans.
It has been known that China and Brunei, along with the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam, are among the countries who have claims over the South China Sea.
On his two-day trip to Brunei, Xi told Hassanal that both countries should push on the negotiations regarding South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC), as maintaining peace and stability of the South China Sea matters to both China and Brunei's interests and is a shared will of both people".
"We appreciate Brunei's initiative that the relevant parties should resolve disputes through friendly consultations, and regional countries [should] work together to ensure the stability of the South China Sea," Xi said.
The code is in an accord between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to manage the territorial and maritime disputes.
"The COC is a necessary guarantee for joint development," Xu Liping, a Southeast Asian studies expert at China Academy of Social Sciences.
China has been working with Brunei but stressing out that the cooperation does not mean the country has changed their position for maritime rights and claims. Brunei has the smallest of the claimants over the South China Sea.
After the summit last Monday, China and Brunei said that they were satisfied with the progress of their cooperation and would continue to this.
