Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the US not to "make trouble out of nothing" in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

Wang made the remarks during a seminar in Beijing when responding to a question on the US Navy's intention of sending a warship within 12 nautical miles of China's islands in the sea.

"We are checking out the matter," said the foreign minister.

"If it is true, we advise the US to think twice before its action," he said, urging them "not to act in an imprudent way and not to make trouble out of nothing."