BEIJING - China has remained in close contact with the Republic of Korea (ROK) over the conflict between Chinese fishermen and ROK coast guards in the Yellow Sea in an effort to properly address the incident, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

"Officials from the Chinese Consulate General in Gwangju have visited the fishermen that were detained after the conflict," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular news briefing.

Reports say the conflict took place in the Yellow Sea between a Chinese vessel and ROK coast guards on Monday morning. The incident left four of the coast guards injured and resulted in nine Chinese fishermen being detained.

China always requires its fishermen to operate in accordance with a bilateral fishery agreement between the two countries, said the spokesman.

In August 2000, the two nations reached the agreement on issues regarding sea areas for fishing, the scale of fishing and fishing conditions.

"We also hope that ROK authorities will enforce laws in a civilized way and work together with the Chinese side to advance fishery cooperation between the two nations in a healthy way," said the spokesman.