China's construction in the Nansha islands is intended to provide more public goods and better fulfill its international obligation, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday in Beijing.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying's remarks came after a U.S. think tank released a report on Monday claiming that China has nearly completed construction of an airfield in the South China Sea.

"The Nansha islands are China's inherent territory," Hua said without verifying the accuracy of the report.

China's construction on its own territory is to improve the living and working conditions for those stationed there and to better safeguard its sovereignty, she said, adding that the construction also aims to improve the civil function of those islands and provide more public goods to better fulfill China's international obligations.

"Whether to deploy necessary defense facilities in its own territory is within China's sovereignty," she said in response to a question on whether China will deploy fighter jets there. Endi

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