China's maritime authority has launched its first patrols to some of the country's farthest territories, to better monitor and coordinate transportation and rescue.

China's massive water territory covers over 4 million square kilometers. Thousands of vessels travel on it every da

y. Keeping maritime traffic under control is demanding and crucial.

Now, this state-of-the-art ship extends the maritime monitoring network to faraway areas like the South China Sea and Chuixiao Oil and Gas Field in the East Sea.

The ship can travel tens of thousand sea miles without stopping for supplies.

This is just the authority's first step.

The first mission will cover an area between Sanya in the southernmost province of Hainan and the northern part of the South China Sea.