China will host the Western Pacific Naval Symposium for the first time on April 22, in the eastern city of Qingdao. It's the 14th time the bi-annual event has been held to discuss maritime affairs in the western Pacific region as well as efforts towards greater naval cooperation.

The multinational vessels attending the western pacific naval symposium are set to participate in a joint drill on April 23, to celebrate the 65th anniversary of China's navy. However, the Japanese maritime self defense force was not invited to the drill. PLA navy spokesman Liang Yang explains.

No one-to-one meetings between top navy officers of China and Japan are officially scheduled for the upcoming West Pacific Navy Symposium (WPNS), a People's Liberation Army (PLA) spokesman said.

Liang Yang, PLA navy spokesman:

"In view of the wrong words and deeds by the Japanese leaders ... which have substantially hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and undermined bilateral ties, aside from arranged, necessary meetings at the symposium, no one-on-one meeting between Admiral Wu Shengli and [Japanese] Marine Self Defense Forces (MSDF) officials has been planned during this year's WPNS."

Location: Qingdao, Shandong Province

Duration: April 22-23, 2014

To discuss:

-Maritime affairs in the western Pacific region;

-Efforts towards greater naval cooperation

Participants: Navy leaders from 25 countries

- 21 member states: China (host), Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, France, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Tonga, Thailand, Singapore, the United States, Vietnam

- 3 observer states: Bangladesh, India, Mexico

- 1 applying for becoming an observer: Pakistan

The WPNS

Established in 1987, the West Pacific Navy Symposium (WPNS) is a cooperation forum for the navies of Western Pacific countries to discuss maritime affairs in the region and the possibility of cooperation among its members.

The Joint Drill

"Sea Cooperation-2014"

Time: April 23, 2014

Countries invited: both participating and not-participating countries from the symposium.

Countries to participate in drill: China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, India

The navy drill is

- To celebrate the founding day of the PLA navy

- Not under the framework of the WPNS

Japan Not invited

- Japanese maritime self defense force was not invited to the drill.

- No one-to-one meetings between top navy officers of China and Japan are officially scheduled for the upcoming West Pacific Navy Symposium (WPNS).