China's State Council on Tuesday approved the establishment of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve.

In recent years, the Philippines has been stirring up trouble near Huangyan Island while ignoring rampant illegal fishing by its nationals, which poses a serious threat to the island's ecological environment.

"This reflects China's increasingly comprehensive consideration for the South China Sea, which not only focuses on the sovereignty assertion but also pays more attention to the ecological protection of the South China Sea, achieving the unity of sovereignty and ecological protection," said Xu Qi, deputy director of the Foreign-Related Rule of Law School at Jinan University.