The government has decided to establish a comprehensive law to define the management of the nation’s exclusive economic zones to promote their development and use, sources said.

Besides promoting the development of the EEZs by companies the envisaged law is also aimed at putting pressure on China, which has been intensifying its maritime activities. The government plans to submit legislation to the ordinary Diet session next year at the earliest.

A project team under the Headquarters for Ocean Policy headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held its first closed-door meeting on Sept. 5. The team of experts discussed the establishment of a law concerning Japan’s EEZs and confirmed that it would compile a report on the matter by the end of the current fiscal year.

Under the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, countries can claim areas extending 200 nautical miles (about 370 kilometers) from their coastlines as EEZs. It gives signatory countries fishing rights and the right to develop natural resources on the seabed on a priority basis in the EEZs.

Japan currently has no uniform law concerning its EEZs although it has a law on the sovereign right of fishing and other activities in the exclusive economic zone, the Mining Law and a law on prevention of marine pollution and maritime disasters.

The establishment of a comprehensive law on Japan’s EEZs is aimed at stressing, domestically and abroad, Japan’s determination to protect its maritime interests at a time when China is accelerating moves to become “a great maritime power.”

Chinese vessels have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture and Beijing has sent its marine research ships into Japan’s EEZs many times.

There are believed to be ample undersea resources such as methane hydrate in the nation’s EEZs. Due to concerns over nuclear power generation, the government is accelerating efforts to develop seabed resources and ocean energy.

Industries that plan to take part in the development of the EEZs have expressed concern that there is currently no clear domestic law concerning Japan’s EEZs, while some people are focused on fishing rights in the EEZs. It has been pointed out that it will take time to coordinate the interests of the Cabinet Office and ministries as related laws concern different government bodies.

The United States and many European countries have comprehensive laws and projects for their EEZs. In China and South Korea, the public and private sectors are jointly working on the development of marine resources. Japan must come up with a comprehensive law concerning Japan’s EEZs as soon as possible to counter these countries.