Chinese candidate Professor Lyu Wenzheng, the current member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) was successfully re-elected for the term 2017 to 2022 with 157 supporting votes during the 27th Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on June 14 in New York.

The CLCS was established in 1997 pursuant to the UNCLOS. Consisting of 21 experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography, the CLCS is responsible for considering the data and other materials submitted by coastal States concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf in areas where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles, and making recommendations to coastal States. The limits of the shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of these recommendations shall be final and binding.