Keynote Speech by H.E. Chen Xiaodong
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
At the Sub-forum on the South China Sea
Of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025

Boao, March 27, 2025

Your Excellency Special Envoy Liu Zhenmin,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon! It gives me great pleasure to attend the Sub-forum on the South China Sea of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025. I would like to extend my hearty congratulations on the launch of this sub-forum and a warm welcome to all the guests present today!

As early as some 2,000 years ago, a Chinese scholar Yang Fu had documented today’s South China Sea islands in his book, describing them as “a place where many reefs and shoals are hidden in the shallow waters, keeping boats from leaving like magnets holding steel.” In fact, in an even earlier dynasty in the second century BC, Chinese people had already been sailing in these waters, and Nanhai Zhudao were gradually discovered over centuries of activities. Since then, through measures such as administrative establishment and governance, naval patrol, resources development, astronomical observation and geographical survey, China has exercised jurisdiction over Nanhai Zhudao and relevant waters continuously, peacefully and effectively. This has been widely recognized by the international community.

Based on the practice of the Chinese people and the Chinese government in the long course of history and the position consistently upheld by successive Chinese governments, and in accordance with China’s national law and international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), China’s rights and interests in the South China Sea have always been clear and definite. First, China has sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao, including Dongsha Qundao, Xisha Qundao, Zhongsha Qundao and Nansha Qundao; second, China has internal waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone, based on Nanhai Zhudao; third, China has exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, based on Nanhai Zhudao; fourth, China has historic rights in the South China Sea.

Before the 20th century, China’s sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao had never been in any dispute. Though some islands and reefs of China were invaded and illegally occupied by force by France and Japan in the 1930s and 1940s, China resumed exercise of authority over these occupied islands and reefs in Xisha Qundao and Nansha Qundao after World War II, which was internationally recognized as a part of the post-war international order. However, since the 1970s, the discovery of vast oil and gas resources in relevant waters of Nansha Qundao has caught the attention of neighboring countries. Many islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao were then invaded and illegally occupied by some coastal states in the South China Sea. They started to put forward claims for exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the South China Sea, and some even claimed extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Therefore, it is not hard to tell that the South China Sea issue is, in essence, a territorial issue arising from certain coastal states’ territorial claims over and their illegal occupation of some of China’s islands and reefs, and an issue of maritime delimitation arising from the overlapping claims of maritime rights and interests in some waters of the South China Sea.

The evolution of international landscape has made the South China Sea issue even more prominent. Some non-regional countries stepped up military presence in the South China Sea, and frequently played up the issue as a leverage to contain China. At the same time, certain country concerned sought to solidify its illegally obtained interests and unilateral claims, for which it is even willing to act as a pawn of external forces. It kept infringing on others’ rights and making provocations at sea, bringing risks and challenges to peace and stability in the South China Sea.

As a coastal state in the South China Sea, China firmly upholds its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with its domestic law and international law. To all sovereign states, this is a right entitled. Meanwhile, as a responsible major country, China is always committed to taking real actions to promote peace and stability in the South China Sea and prosperity and development of the region, fully demonstrating our goodwill and forbearance. Just think, if it were some other major external power whose islands and reefs were occupied and resources plundered, there would be no similar restraint as China has exercised, and we could easily anticipate what would happen in the South China Sea. Going forward, China will act upon the vision of a maritime community with a shared future put forward by President Xi Jinping, and act as an anchor for peace and development in the South China Sea while resolutely safeguarding its own sovereignty and security interests. To this end, China calls for actions in the following areas.

We should stay committed to bilateral negotiations to resolve maritime disputes. China delimited its first maritime boundary in the South China Sea in 2000, which was the one in the Beibu Gulf with Viet Nam, and has continued negotiations over recent years with Viet Nam to delimit the waters beyond the mouth of the Beibu Gulf. At the same time, China has announced respective baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Xisha Qundao, the north part of the Beibu Gulf and Huangyan Dao, to pave the way for future delimitation. We are ready to delimit maritime boundaries through negotiation with all countries directly concerned in the South China Sea in accordance with international law. This has been China’s approach, and will remain so. 

We should stay committed to dialogue and cooperation to manage the situation at sea. To resolve boundary disputes through negotiation is the only right choice, but it is also a complex process. Pending the final delimitation, situation at sea should still be properly managed with provisional arrangements. This is also strongly advocated by international law, including UNCLOS. To this end, China has conducted negotiations on maritime joint development with Viet Nam, Brunei and the Philippines, and signed a consensus document on joint development with Indonesia last year. Even in the case of Ren’ai Jiao, China has, while adhering to its principled position, reached provisional arrangement with the Philippines to cool down the situation. Conflict and confrontation will lead nowhere; dialogue and cooperation is the right way forward.

We should stay committed to preventing and opposing external interference and resolutely safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea from disruption. It is a known fact that the South China Sea is the safest waterway in the world, and freedom of navigation has never been a problem here. The real problem is that “upholding freedom of navigation” has been used as an excuse by certain countries outside the region. Large numbers of warships and military aircraft were sent to the South China Sea to stir up trouble, and certain costal state was emboldened by a so-called military alliance treaty to infringe upon the rights of others. We must stay highly alert about these moves, and hold the key to regional security firmly in our own hands. To keep the South China Sea stable, and resolve the South China Sea issue, we must fend off external interference, still less be exploited by external forces. After all, pawns are always discarded in the end.

We should stay committed to setting up rules to shape regional order. The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed in 2002 establishes the basic principles and common norms for handling the South China Sea issue. Following the DOC, no more uninhabited islands and reefs of Nansha Qundao were occupied, and effective cooperation has since been active in areas such as marine environment protection, scientific research, maritime shipping and transport, search and rescue, and combating transnational crimes. This fully demonstrates the importance of establishing and observing rules and norms. China is ready to work with all parties to continue the full and effective implementation of the DOC, and, at the same time, to stay clear of disturbances and build consensus for the conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) in 2026, with the third reading of the text now completed, so as to improve rules and order in the South China Sea.

Friends,

Together we have sailed far, yet smoother seas await beyond the bar. China will continue working hand in hand with regional countries and the wider international community to write a new chapter of peace, stability, prosperity and development in the South China Sea.

I look forward to in-depth exchanges among all distinguished guests during this sub-forum, and hope you will contribute your wisdom and strength to making the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation.

To conclude, I wish this sub-forum a full success. Thank you!