China has announced plans to construct nuclear power stations on the disputed islands of the South China Sea with the aim of establishing "effective control" over the maritime region, according to state media.

The news comes days after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China had "no legal basis" for its claims on nearly 90 per cent of the South China Sea, which Beijing has refused to accept.

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Beijing has been at loggerheads with its South Asian neighbors including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan over territorial claims on the waterway and a move to build nuclear reactors are likely to raise already mounting tensions in the resource-rich region.

The China Securities Journal said that Beijing was planning to construct 20 offshore nuclear platforms in order to "speed up the commercial development" in the disputed South China Sea waters.

"China's first floating nuclear reactor will be assembled by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation's (CSIC) subsidiary, Bohai Heavy Industry, and the company will build 20 such reactors in the future," the local publication said, according to Reuters.

Making a reference to a social media post by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the newspaper further added that the nuclear power plants will also be used to generate energy and provide freshwater for the Nansha Islands. The post has since been deleted.

When asked about the nuclear platforms, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said he had no knowledge about the same.

A spokesman for CNNC said that the floating nuclear reactors had been proposed by its subsidiary, the Nuclear Power Institute of China, and the CSIC would take the final call on the execution of the project.

Tagschina, South China Sea, South China Sea claims, South China Sea Dispute, South China Sea nuclear power, China Nuclear Power, The Hague, Permanent Court of Arbitration