Chinese experts applauded the gesture from the Philippines on Friday after it expressed willingness to conduct bilateral talks with China over the joint development of natural resources in the South China Sea despite an upcoming maritime dispute decision to be made by an international tribunal.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's administration hopes to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday's verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds, Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told AFP Friday.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the Philippine's Friday statement.

The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino's previous administration, filed in 2013 a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

China has repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal's ruling and insisted on direct negotiations between the two sides of the disputed territories.

Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino.

Xu Liping, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the new Philippine administration's gesture of proposed joint development has sent a precious positive signal.

"The new government is clear that the arbitration is in fact a burden passed down from the Aquino administration, which had used the tribunal challenge as a political show," said Xu.

However, Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Philippine government needs to clarify what they are going to talk about, and in what ways the talks will be held in order to actualize Sino-Philippine cooperation over the disputed waters.

"We can't just make a gesture and promise talks for talk's sake," Wang told the Global Times on Friday.

He said China and the Philippines had already started talks over joint development years ago, though the process was suspended later. The two sides can continue from the previous talks, he said.

China, Vietnam and the Philippines signed an agreement in 2005, which planned to allow oil companies from the three countries to conduct seismic surveys in the South China Sea. It was seen as the beginning of trilateral cooperation in joint development of natural resources on the disputed waters.

Yasay said Friday China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any "provocative statements" following the release of the ruling.

Duterte and Yasay met with China's ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday.

AFP contributed to this story