China on Thursday reacted cautiously to Vietnam's offer of new oil wells for off shore exploration to India, saying "relevant countries" can do more for peace and stability of the region.

"China's position on South China Sea issue is consistent," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing here today, reacting to a question over Vietnam's offer of oil wells to India during the recent visit of its leader Nguyen Phu Trong to New Delhi.

"The situation in the South China Sea, generally speaking is peaceful. We hope relevant countries can do more things that are conducive to peace and stability in the region," Hong said.

Vietnam has offered India seven oil blocks in South China Sea, including three on an exclusive basis, during the visit of its ruling Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen.

The two countries also signed an MoU on oil exploration for three years but its contents were not released.

China claims sovereignty over most of part of South China Sea which is contested by Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

Earlier, China has protested to India over ONGC taking up oil exploration in the blocks claimed by Vietnam.

India has defended it as a commercial deal.