A 5,800-ton fishery patrol ship, China's largest fishery patrol vessel, began patrolling the waters of the East China Sea on Dec 11 in Shanghai.

Yuzheng 206 is one of the largest and most-advanced fishery patrol ships in China and will play an important role in protecting fishermen's interests and the country's maritime rights, a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture said.

The country has moved faster to strengthen its maritime power as two inspection ships joined the offshore patrol fleet in November after President Hu Jintao said during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that the country should become "a maritime power".

In November, China News Service reported that the Hebei, Shandong and Liaoning maritime safety bureaus ordered three patrol ships and the Zhejiang fishery administration bureau ordered a 500-ton fishery patrol ship on Dec 4.

By the end of 2010, China had 2,287 fishery patrol ships, of which 528 were built in the past five years, statistics from the ministry show.

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