(Bloomberg) -- Negotiations between Asean countries and China over a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea will resume no later than November, Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said during a virtual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The talks come as territorial tensions in the sea are on the rise with countries such as Vietnam pushing back against China’s maritime claims.

The meetings will be face to face, Locsin said. The negotiations had been postponed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“The regional geo-political and geo-economic landscape, including the South China Sea, are witnessing growing volatilities that are detrimental to peace and stability,” Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the start of the meetings. Vietnam, which is this year’s chair of Asean, is hosting the sessions.

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