China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on September 11 released a series of measures to select and protect areas as the base points of the country's territorial sea, a move to "ensure the country's maritime interests."

According to the measures, which were revealed in a statement posted on the SOA's official website on September 12, the administration is responsible for supervising and guiding the selection and protection of the areas for territorial sea base points, while detailed selecting and marking work should be carried out by provincial-level governments that have jurisdiction over the area where the base points are located.

The measures came after the Chinese Government announced on September 10 the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of 17 base points.

The SOA statement said that a country has the same sovereignty over its territorial sea as it does over territorial land, and such sovereignty extends to the seabed and subsoil as well as the air space above it.