KUNMING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 90th Mekong River joint patrol led by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand started on Thursday from Jingha Port, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
The patrol, also the first joint patrol in 2020 and expected to last six days, will involve joint inspections, visits and an anti-drug publicity campaign, covering key waters including the Golden Triangle, an area notorious for drug production, according to the provincial public security department.
The four countries just held their 2019 annual working meeting in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, before the operation, and reached several consensuses on cooperation in 2020. A joint meeting of commanders was also held in the city of Jinghong, Yunnan.
The joint patrol program started in December 2011 after a gang hijacked two cargo ships and killed 13 Chinese sailors in Thai waters on Oct. 5 that year.
So far, a total of 13,943 officers and 738 vessels have participated in the 89 missions, covering a range of more than 46,000 km. A total of 124 merchant ships were rescued and thousands of merchant ships escorted.
The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping among China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
