An organizing committee for the legislative body of Sansha, a newly-established city on an island in the South China Sea, has been set up to form a local government.

The committee was established by the Standing Committee of the Hainan Provincial People's Congress on Tuesday.

It will organize the first city congress of Sansha, approving the electoral commission for the election of deputies and convening the first plenary meeting of the congress.

Residents in the city will directly elect 60 deputies, reported hinews.cn, a local news portal. The deputies will convene to elect a standing committee, a mayor, and head of the city procuratorate and intermediate court.

A specific timetable was not immediately available.

In late June, the State Council approved the establishment of the prefectural-level city of Sansha, to administer the Nansha, Xisha and Zhongsha island groups as well as the surrounding waters in the South China Sea. The government seat will be stationed on Yongxing, Xisha islands.

It will be the southernmost city of China and cover an island area of 13 square kilometers and over 2 million square kilometers of waters.

Establishing the city of Sansha would help strengthen the administrative management and development of the islands and the surrounding waters, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Civil Affairs told the Xinhua News Agency in June.

Wu Shicun, director of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told Xinhua that the move was a jurisdictional adjustment and would help better develop the area and protect resources.

The decision to form a new administration in the South China Sea came at a time when neighboring countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines are constantly challenging China's sovereignty over the area.

A fleet of 30 fishing boats from Hainan are in the waters of the Nansha Islands in the largest ever fishing expedition in the area. It is reported that the Philippines warned Sunday that the Chinese fishing boats "should not cross the borders into their special economic zone."

The Hainan Maritime Safety Administration is also planning to send regular patrol ships to the islands to defend China's sovereignty and maritime rights, Xinhua reported earlier this month.

Tourist cruises from Haikou to Sansha are due to be launched by the end of this year, the Hainan provincial tourism development board said.

Both Vietnam and the Philippines have voiced strong objections to the establishment of Sansha. China's foreign ministry has reiterated the country's sovereignty over the area and said the adjustment was well within China's jurisdiction.

Xinhua contributed to this story