HANOI, September 6. /TASS/. The heads of state and government of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have called for strengthening peace and security in the South China Sea, according to a joint statement released after the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.

"We reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea," the document states. The ASEAN leaders also emphasized the need for trust-building measures between parties along the South China Sea and reaffirmed the importance of upholding international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982).

They called for the responsible implementation of all of the provisions of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, as well as the early approval of an effective and substantive rule of conduct code for parties.

ASEAN was founded in 1967. Today the organization brings together ten Southeast Asian countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.