7 April 2013 Last updated at 02:52 ET

China is to begin running tourism cruises to a chain of disputed islands in the South China Sea by next month, state media reports.

The Xinhua news agency said tourists would live on board ships, as the largest island has only one hotel and no fresh water.

The islands, known in China as Xisha but the Paracels elsewhere, are claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

China has controlled them since a short war with South Vietnam in 1974.

In recent years tensions have been rising over the over-lapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, amid a more assertive stance from China.

Analysts view the latest move as an another step in China's battle to demonstrate that the potentially oil-rich area is Chinese.

Xinhua quoted the Haihang Group ship company as saying that a 47,000-tonne ship, capable of accommodating nearly 2,000 passengers, was ready to sail and that another was being built.

The first tours would take place ahead of the May Day holiday, said Tan Li, the executive vice governor of Hainan province, just north of the islands.

He said tourists would eat and sleep on the ship but visit land for sightseeing, Xinhua reports, and that the currently limited facilities would be improved by the addition of more ports and sanitation infrastructure.

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China plans disputed islands tourism