ASEAN Foreign Ministers link hands "The ASEAN Way" at the opening ceremony of the 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017. [Photo: AP/Mohd Rasfan]

The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) endorsed on Saturday the framework of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea for eventual adoption at the ASEAN-China meeting on Sunday, a government spokesman said.

Robespierre Bolivar, the acting spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said, "The ministers endorsed the framework of the COC for eventual adoption at the ASEAN-China ministerial meeting on Aug. 6."

The framework, which was negotiated by China and the ASEAN, will help both sides move forward in negotiating an effective Code of Conduct, according to Bolivar.

Bolivar has earlier said the framework of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea is one of the major outcome documents of the week-long ASEAN ministerial meetings that kicked off on Saturday.The Philippines is the rotating chair of ASEAN this year.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.