China completes land reclamation on some Nansha islands

This satellite image released on Wednesday shows the Fiery Cross Reef where the reclamation project has been completed. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Land reclamation for Chinese construction on some islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands has been completed as planned, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

"Next, China will start the building of facilities to meet relevant functional requirements," spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.

Hua said the main purpose of China's construction activities is to meet various civilian demands and better perform international obligations and responsibilities, in addition to satisfying the need for necessary military defense.

The obligations and responsibilities are in areas such as maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and mitigation, marine scientific research, meteorological observation, ecological environment conservation, navigation safety as well as fishery production service, Hua said.