Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday to jointly ensure safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, according to state media in both countries.

Premier Li repeated China’s stance that the South China Sea issue should be solved bilaterally “on the basis of historical facts and in accordance with international law,” China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.

The summit follows a ruling by an international arbitration court which found China had no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea.

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration also ruled that China did not have the right to resources within its “nine-dash line”, which covers roughly 85% of the disputed waters.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims on parts of the South China Sea, through which $US5 trillion in shop-borne trade moves each year.

– with Reuters