
China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced that anyone who would want to carry out oil and gas exploration or exploitation in Chinese waters would require a prior permission from Beijing.
Chinese Ministry spokesman Lu Kang informed media at a briefing. Kang reacted to queries over recent drilling by Russian state oil firm Rosneft in China claimed waters.
"We urge relevant parties to earnestly respect China's sovereign and jurisdictional rights and not do anything that could impact bilateral relations or this region's peace and stability," Lu said.
(With inputs from Reuters)