6.
4
Had negotiation of a Maritime Agreement been resumed we should hav introduced a draft exchange of letters along thses lines into the discussions, and this would remain one theoretical option.
When we learnt of the Chinese proposal for a bilateral Economic Cooperation Agreement it seemed to us that we should seek to take
advantage of this opportunity in the shipping context. Because of the Hong Kong problem, and perhaps other aspects which may have arisen since 1977 and which have yet to be identified, it may be a considerable time before the Maritime Agreement is concluded and i is important that the British shipping industry should not be left on the starting-line in what may well be a quickly-moving situatio In addition it may be that the Chinese would, especially in view o their ministry structure (in which cargo-control is the responsi- bility of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and shipping of the Minist of Communications), consider that the more explicit understanding we have in mind was more suitable in the context of an Economic
Cooperation Agreement. We therefore asked the Embassy in Peking t put to the Ministry of Foreign Trade the proposition that we might attempt to secure an understanding on carriage-sharing in the
context of the ECA. Such an understanding might take the form of an exchange of letters annexed to the Agreement along the followi
lines:
'The parties recognise that the principle of mutual benefit
from their joint economic activity should apply to maritime
transport. In this sector the parties confirm the principle of equitable participation by the shipping enterprises or companies of both parties on remunerative terms'.