China Marine Surveillance (CMS; ) was a maritime surveillance agency of China.
Patrol vessels from China Marine Surveillance were commonly deployed to locations in the South China Sea and East China Sea where China has territorial disputes over islands with its neighbors. The CMS has played a central role in China's in defending Chinese territories in the South China Sea, encountering opposition from Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in the disputed territories, as China.
Unlike its successor, the China Coast Guard, the CMS was unarmed.
The agency has been disbanded in July 2013 and has now been merged, along with three other similar agencies, with the China Coast Guard.
Local CMS units (Provincial, Municipal and County level) still exist to this day.
Established 1998, the CMS, charged with the supervisory responsibility for some 3 million square kilometers of Chinese declared territorial waters, employs some 7,000 individuals and operates some 10 aircraft, including at least one Mil Mi-8 helicopter and two Harbin Y-12 utility planes, and 400 seagoing vessels.(Two Harbin Y-12 aircraft seen at Guilin airfield on a number of occasions in August 2013.) It has grown in fleet size and capability. Its fleet was made up of, in part, destroyers and other former Chinese Navy vessels.
In March 2013, China announced it shall create a unified Coast Guard commanded by the State Oceanic Administration. The move has now merged China Marine Surveillance with the China Coast Guard.
The North China Sea Fleet was led by both , State Oceanic Administration and China Marine Surveillance.
The East China Sea Fleet was led by both East China Sea Bureau, State Oceanic Administration and China Marine Surveillance.
The South China Sea Fleet was led by both , State Oceanic Administration and China Marine Surveillance.
Unlike the National level China Marine Surveillance fleets, many local governments remained their own CMS fleets.
The China Marine Surveillance Guangdong Provincial Fleet (ä¸Âå½海çÂÂ广ä¸ÂçÂÂæÂȎÂÂ) was formerly a fleet of the CMS operating in Guangdong.
The CMS Guangdong Fleet and its successor the Guangdong CMLE assisted in prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic's spread.
On November 16, 2020, the China Marine Surveillance Guangdong Fleet was merged with the Guangdong Fisheries Law Enforcement Fleet (广ä¸ÂçÂÂæ¸Âæ¿æÂȎÂÂ) to form the Guangdong Provincial Comprehensive Marine Law Enforcement (广ä¸ÂçÂÂæµ·æ´Â综åÂÂæ§æ³ÂæÂȎÂÂ), inheriting the ships of both agencies and is responsible for maritime law enforcement, search and rescue along with fisheries control. It is under the control of the .
The Guangdong CMLE operates 3 flotillas, and is headquartered in 10 Nancun Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou:
The China Marine Surveillance Guangxi Autonomous Region Fleet (ä¸Âå½海çÂÂ广西壮æÂÂèª治åºæÂȎÂÂ), under the Guangxi Autonomus Region Oceanic Administration (广西èª治åº海æ´Âå±Â) is Guangxi's own CMS fleet and is still active as of 2022, conducting patrols in the Beibu gulf against smugglers and illegal migrants from Vietnam.