The head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has expressed confidence that the bloc was progressing towards creating a code of conduct for disputed waters, but a Chinese official appeared to refute that view.

Officials present at meetings in Cambodia stressed the need to maintain momentum in discussions on a conduct code, the aim of which is to resolve territorial tensions in the resource-rich South China Sea between ASEAN members and China.

Beijing has opposed efforts to settle disagreements at multilateral forums, saying it prefers to handle them on a bilateral basis.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in July broke up without issuing a communique for the first time in the bloc's history, an outcome that analysts blamed on host Cambodia's weakness in standing up to pressure from China.