On September 9th, 1997, the Bureau and the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources of the People's Republic of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to share information concerning minerals management. Areas of cooperation include:

	revenue management;
	conveyance of mineral rights and establishment of a leasing system;
	economic valuation and fair market value;
	development of an automated system for collecting and managing resources and revenues; and
	environmental evaluation.

On April 8th, 1998, the Ministry of Land Resources replaced the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources as the proper governing authority under the existing MOU through an Exchange of Letter between the People's Republic of China and the Bureau.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

The Bureau and the U.S. Department of State conducted a workshop October 4-14, 2000, entitled "Assessing and Maintaining the Integrity of Existing Offshore Oil and Gas Facilities". The workshop, conducted under the auspices of the APEC Marine Resources Conservation Working Group, was designed to provide practical guidance to address the issues faced by industry and regulatory authorities in dealing with aging offshore oil and gas facilities. It allowed for an exchange of information and experience APEC-wide. Practical and cost-effective solutions were explored with the goal of understanding the programs currently in effect in the region and avoiding duplication of effort.

Links

	U.S. State Department
	U.S. Embassy Beijing Environment, Science and Technology