KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday (Aug 6) he hoped China had stopped reclamation work to build islands in the disputed waters of the South China Sea and an end to militarisation in the region was needed.

Speaking at a regional forum in Malaysia, Kerry said the expression of willingness to resolve the issue from China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi was "not as fulsome" as some had hoped.

Wang was also attending an Association of South East Asian Nations Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur.

China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam also claim parts of the ocean.