China’s sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao (the South China Sea Islands) and its rights and interests in the South China Sea have been established in the long course of history, and are solidly grounded in history and law.

Situated to the south of China’s mainland, and connected by narrow straits and waterways with the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Indian Ocean to the west, the South China Sea is a semi-enclosed sea extending from northeast to southwest. To its north are the mainland and Taiwan Island of China, to its south Kalimantan Island and Sumatra Island, to its east the Philippine Archipelago, and to its west the Indo-China Peninsula and the Malay Peninsula.

Activities of the Chinese people in the South China Sea date back to over 2,000 years ago. China is the first to have discovered, named, explored and exploited Nanhai Zhudao and relevant waters, and the first to have continuously, peacefully and effectively exercised sovereignty and jurisdiction over them.

China incorporated Nanhai Zhudao into its territory in as early as the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1276 AD). The successive Chinese governments have since exercised continuous jurisdiction over Nanhai Zhudao through measures such as the setting up of prefecture-level administrations, the establishment of naval forces and operation of coastal and marine patrols, and the designation of geographical names. From the 1930s to 1940s, Japan illegally seized China’s Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands during its war of aggression against China. Soon after the Second World War, the Chinese government recovered the two archipelagos and resumed the exercise of sovereignty. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese government has further strengthened its jurisdiction over Nanhai Zhudao and relevant waters, and China’s peaceful development in the South China Sea has been advancing rapidly.