Chinese construction on islands and reefs in the South China Sea has not damaged the environment, a foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday, refuting accusations by the Philippines.

Philippine fishery officials said they are "disturbed" by China's reclamation work in the South China Sea last Thursday. They said it threatens a quarter of the country's fish production due to damage done to coral reefs, according to a report.

China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha (Spratly) Islands and the surrounding waters, foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a daily news briefing. "China pays more attention to the environment than anyone else when its comes to terms of construction on our islands," According to Chinese News Agency and Want China Times, Hong said China's construction work on the islands, which has gone through years of scientific assessment and thorough verification, with strict environmental standards, will produce no damage to the marine environment, "I wonder if the Philippines has any evidence for their claim that China's construction on the islands causes damage to them," Hong said.