Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss with China later today a draft Regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which calls for, among others, a stop to any new occupation of reefs, shoals and islets in the disputed area to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Undersecretary Lauro Baja, Jr. of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Asean ministers remain hopeful that China will eventually adopt the draft code.

Asean senior ministers reached a consensus during their informal working dinner to adopt the draft code, Baja announced.

"We have as much hope with China as we have with the others," Baja said in a press briefing at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) held this morning.

Four of the claimants to all or parts of the South China Sea are Asean members. They are the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam.

China and Taiwan have claims in the disputed area.

The code of conduct, according to Baja, needs to be adopted by China, if the code is "to send a strong political message to the international community."

Baja, however, gave no details on the code's scope of application, since these still need to be discussed with China during the Asean+China Senior Officials Meeting this afternoon.

Earlier DFA Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said the proposed code of conduct is among the new mechanisms being pushed by the Philippines to maintain peace and security in East Asia.