The year 2002 Code of Conduct related to territorial and maritime dispute in the South China Sea was signed between China and

The 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) was signed between the People's Republic of China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The agreement was adopted on November 4, 2002, during the 8th ASEAN Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia [1]. The DOC serves as a political document and a non-binding code of conduct aimed at safeguarding regional stability, promoting mutual trust, and encouraging the peaceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. While individual nations like the Philippines and Vietnam are claimants in the dispute, the 2002 agreement was specifically a multilateral accord between China and the ASEAN bloc as a whole. It remains a foundational framework for ongoing negotiations toward a more formal and legally binding Code of Conduct (COC).

Sources

1. [1] https://id.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/ztbd/4321/201107/t20110721_2345644.htm