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China has opened an international tsunami warning center to serve countries bordering on the South China Sea, oceanic officials announced on Thursday.

The centre, monitors major earthquake subduction zones where the Earth plates converge in the South China, Sulu and Sulawesi seas and provides 24-hour uninterrupted warning services, said Wang Hua, a State Oceanic Administration (SOA) official.

The South China Sea region is prone to tsunamis and littoral countries have, until now, relied on services provided by American and Japanese warning centres.

The warning centre was proposed in 2009, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

In 2013, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IOC/UNESCO) approved an SOA plan.

Wang said the centre was the result of practical maritime cooperation between countries around the South China Sea.

Yuan Ye, Director of the National Tsunami Warning Centre, said that China was now capable of warning the public of a tsunami eight to 10 minutes after an earthquake.