BEIJING — A Chinese patrol ship searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 detected a pulse signal with a frequency of 37.5 kHz per second in the south Indian Ocean on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported.

37.5 kHz per second is currently the international standard frequency for the underwater locator beacon on a plane's "black box".

A black box detector deployed by the vessel Haixun 01 picked up the signal at around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, Xinhua said. It has yet to be established whether it is related to the missing jet.

Xinhua also said a Chinese air force plane spotted a number of white floating objects in the search area.