Beijing, Sep 24 (IANS): China will promote the use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to strengthen the nation's marine surveillance, the government said.

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) Sunday verified and accepted a pilot programme for using drones to undertake remote-sensing marine surveillance in Lianyungang coastal city in the eastern province of Jiangsu, Xinhua reported.

With the experience from the pilot programme, the SOA would try to form a managerial system and technical regulations in a bid to set up UAV surveillance and monitoring bases in provinces along China's coastline by 2015, an official said.

The SOA would also step up efforts to enhance surveillance of islands, including the Diaoyu Islands and Huangyan Island.

It said the use of pilotless aircraft in remote-sensing marine surveillance was relatively flexible, low-cost and efficient, compared to the performance of satellite remote sensing, aerial remote sensing and field monitoring.