Beijing, Apr 1 (IANS): China, India and Japan are cooperating while providing international naval escort, a Chinese defence ministry spokesman has said.

China announced its escort schedule in time and India and Japan made their own escorting plans accordingly, People's Daily quoted the spokesman as saying.

This would help the three countries to carry out their escort operations in a more orderly and efficient way, Yang Yujun said here.

The practice had won acknowledgement from the shipping industry.

Yang said India would be the next reference country from April to June, followed by Japan in the third quarter this year.

"Some other countries have also expressed their wishes to take part in the coordination mechanism," said the spokesman.

China sent its first convoy fleet to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters in December 2008.

Last month, a Chinese military official said the country had deployed 10 navy flotillas including 25 warships, 22 helicopters and over 8,400 officers and soldiers to the Gulf of Aden.