BEIJING, April 15 -- The Chinese navy announced on Tuesday that an international fleet review has been canceled for the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) to be held later this month in east China's Qingdao.

The search for missing Malaysian plane MH370 is still under way, with air forces dispatched in the mission and the families of passengers suffering grief, said Navy spokesman Liang Yang.

Taking the current circumstances into consideration, the Chinese side has decided to cancel the review, he said.

However, a multilateral maritime exercise will be conducted during the event, Liang said.

Established in 1987, the WPNS is a cooperation forum for the navies of Western Pacific countries to discuss maritime affairs in the region and the possibility of cooperation among its members.

The forum has 24 members, with 20 member states and four observers. The 20 WPNS member states are Indonesia, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia, Tonga, France, Canada, and Chile. The four observer countries include India, Bangladesh, Peru, and Mexico.