The People's Republic of China (PRC) continues to claim the West Philippine Sea despite the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling that its nine-dash line, including the land reclamation and other activities in the Philippine waters were unlawful.

According to Chinese government media, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the 2023 edition of China's standard map during the celebration of Surveying and Mapping Publicity Day and the National Mapping Awareness Publicity Week on Monday.

It features a ten-dash line that claims the South China Sea.

"The standard map service system operates on the official website of the Ministry of Natural Resources, providing a series of standard maps for the public according to Zhang Wenhui, director of the ministry's Map Technology Review Center," reported China Daily.

Wu Wenzhong, chief planner of the ministry, stresses the importance of surveying, mapping and geographic information in boosting the development of their nation.

"The next step will be to accelerate the application of geographic information data such as digital maps and navigation and positioning in the development of the digital economy, such as location-based services, precision agriculture, platform economy and intelligent connected vehicles," said Wu. Robina Asido/DMS