China is seeking help from other countries and regions to help boost its search and rescue capabilities.
Zhang Jinshan, a deputy director-general of the China Rescue and Salvage Bureau, said China "urgently needs the help of countries and regions that excel in the field" to help train maritime rescue staff and exchange experiences.
In past years, the bureau has signed cooperation agreements with France, Eurocopter, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The United Kingdom-based Royal National Lifeboat Institution has also helped China purchase 20 self-righting lifeboats at low cost.
"We expect to reach an agreement with the US Coast Guard to strengthen cooperation and personnel training soon," Zhang said.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of the two-day Fourth China International Rescue and Salvage Conference, which ended here yesterday.
With a coastline of 18,000 km, China is trying to cope with a growing number of maritime incidents resulting from the country's booming shipping industry.
The cargo turnover of Chinese ports in the first half of this year was 2.55 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 16 percent.
To meet the challenge, the bureau has been expanding its search and rescue teams and buying more equipment. Today, it has a staff of 10,000, 54 rescue vessels, 132 salvage vessels, and nine helicopters.
But the current fleet for offshore search and rescue is still inadequate and lags far behind some advanced countries, Ding Pingsheng, another deputy director general of the bureau, said.
He said while life-saving missions in advanced countries rely mainly on aircraft, China lacks both aircraft and professionals.
"We lag far behind countries like the United States, where its Coast Guard has more than 200 aircraft for offshore life-saving missions," Ding said.
To boost the country's maritime safety capabilities, the number of helicopters will be increased from the current nine to 24 in 2015, he said.
The bureau will also launch a three-year training course for recruits next year.
