PHNOM PENH -- Senior ASEAN officials hailed Saturday a major breakthrough in the disputed Spratly islands as a move towards ensuring regional and global security.

Association of South East Asian Nations Secretary General Rodolfo Severino said the declaration on the conduct of parties in the Spratly islands provided a code of conduct for the nations that claimed them.

"Basically, we are saying that pending the resolution of the jurisdictional and territorial disputes, this is how we should behave: We should not occupy uninhabited land features (in the South China Seas)," Severino told AFP.

He said the consensus agreement was reached after last minute consultations before the ASEAN summit begins on Monday.

The 10 members of ASEAN and China late Friday announced the breakthrough to prevent an escalation of tensions in the disputed South China Seas.

Chem Widhya, spokesman for the Cambodian Foreign Ministry, said all members of the association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China had reached a draft agreement on conduct in the region after marathon meetings.

"The text stipulates the countries of ASEAN and China restrain from any activities that would escalate or that would complicate the relations among themselves ... and also to help any person in distress," he said.

He said four ASEAN countries at the center of the disputes -- Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam -- had reached an agreement on the common text on October 11.

The remaining six ASEAN members -- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand -- approved the text on October 31.

China gave its agreement on November 1.

ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad said on Saturday the agreement would help de-escalate tensions in the region.

"The declaration binds the claimant states within the Spratly group of islands to observe restraint and undertake cooperative activities among themselves pending the resolution of the overlapping claims in the Spratly's group of islands," Abad said. "It is the concerned states' important contribution to the cause of regional and global peace."

Vietnam and China have clashed twice over the Spratly islands, in 1988 and 1992, and on both occasions the Chinese emerged victorious.

It is believed the archipelago sits on top of vast reserves of oil and gas, although their commercial potential has never been confirmed.

Cambodia is playing host to this year's ASEAN summit which will draw leaders from 15 countries.