(Bloomberg) — Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations pledged to work together to maintain maritime security following a summit held in Tokyo, as concerns grow about the region’s territorial spats with China.

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The sides agreed to uphold international law, enhance coastguard cooperation and look for more ways to cooperate on defense, including on equipment and joint training, they said in a wide-ranging statement Sunday after a commemorative summit between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the group’s leaders.

The summit, which marked the 50th anniversary of ties between the group and Asia’s second-largest economy, came as Japan’s only treaty ally the US vies with China to exert influence in the region. China is the top trading partner, while also being a territorial rival for Southeast Asian nations like the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as Japan.

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At a bilateral leaders’ meeting Saturday, Kishida promised a ¥400 million ($2.8 million) grant to Malaysia to help bolster maritime security and protect sea lanes by providing equipment such as rescue boats. He also pledged a patrol vessel for Indonesia.

That followed on from an agreement to provide coastal surveillance radar equipment to the Philippines. Last month, Japan upgraded its ties with Vietnam at a summit with a view to providing defense aid.

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While the amounts involved in these security aid deals are modest, they carry a strong symbolic message from long-pacifist Japan, which has its own territorial spat with China.

Tensions have grown around uninhabited East China Sea islands claimed by both Japan and China, with coastguard vessels from the two countries frequently trying to eject one another from nearby waters. Japan is also concerned about maintaining security in the South China Sea, where trade routes close to Asean countries are key to its economy.

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In addition, Japan vowed to work with its Asean partners on energy including liquefied natural gas, as well as hydrogen and ammonia technologies. The two sides vowed to promote energy transition “depending on the circumstances of each country.” The summit ends Monday with a meeting of the leaders of the Asia Zero Emission Community.

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