GUANGZHOU - Routine fishery administrative patrols around Nansha islands in the South China Sea will be carried out to better safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese fishermen, a fishery official has confirmed.

Wu Zhuang, chief of the South China Sea Fishery Bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture, said carrying out routine fishery patrols in the territorial waters surrounding the Nansha islands will be the top priority in 2013.

Law enforcement staff will continue the supervision over the Huangyan Islands and Meiji Reef, and intensify the supervision and control over the Xisha islands and Beibu Gulf, Wu said.

With the growth of law enforcement capacity, the country will speed up the routine patrols, especially in the waters near the Nansha islands, said Wu.

Regular fishery administrative patrols in the South China Sea will be carried out also in 2014, according to a bureau statement this month.

The bureau's fishery patrol ships stayed at sea for a record 183 days in 2012.