JAKARTA, Indonesia — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said that the Philippines will continue working with China and will push for more partnerships with the Asian giant amid tensions in the South China Sea.

Marcos said this during a brief conversation with Chinese Premiere Li Qiang during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China (ASEAN-China) Summit here on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Sept. 7, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), said the two leaders briefly discussed boosting cooperation between the two countries.

"The President said that the Philippines will continue to push for cooperation with China and work towards more partnerships and collaboration," it said.

During the Summit's Retreat Session, the President urged all parties involved to exercise self-restraint on all activities in the disputed waters as the Philippines' dream of a peaceful and stable South China Sea remained a "distant reality."

He said the Philippines will continue working with all countries to foster a rules-based, international order but rejected the notion that the South China Sea issue is merely a showdown between countries.

"The Philippines firmly rejects misleading narratives that frame the disputes in the South China Sea solely to the lens of strategic competition between two powerful countries," Marcos said.

"This not only denies us our independence and our agency, but it also disregards our own legitimate interests," he added.

Meanwhile, the President lauded the latest developments in negotiations for a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, saying they were in accordance with international law.

Prior to the Summit, Marcos said the Philippines would respond to China's recent map which showed a ten-dash line in the disputed waters.

China continues to claim a large portion of the South China Sea and rejects the 2016 landmark arbitral ruling invalidating their nine-dash line claim over the area.