The Philippines said Friday it hopes to complete a new defence accord with the United States ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama this month, as a territorial dispute with China simmers.

The chief Philippine negotiator, defence undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, said in a statement the latest round of discussions about an increased US military presence in the country was "very productive".

"This round brought us much closer to finding full consensus and the draft provisions on key points of an enhanced defence cooperation will be submitted to the president for his review," Batino said.

Philippine negotiators on Friday said the eighth round of talks on a proposed military agreement had seen both sides "finding consensus on key points of a draft".

The agreement proposes allowing more US troops, aircraft, and ships to pass through the Philippines, as well as storing equipment in this country that could help mobilise American forces faster - particularly in the case of natural disasters.

The accord would provide "critical and timely support to the modernisation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (and the) achievement of the country's minimum credible defence posture," Batino's statement said.

The deal would not allow the US military to "establish a permanent military presence or base" or bring nuclear weapons into the country, in line with the Philippine Constitution.

The proposed agreement could be signed before President Obama visits the Philippines this month, a foreign department spokesman said.

"We aim to conclude the negotiations before the Obama visit," foreign department spokesman Charles Jose told AFP.

Washington has said Obama will visit the Philippines at the end of April as part of a four-nation tour of East Asia.

The United States had two large military bases near Manila until 1992, when it gave both up amid growing anti-US sentiment and a rental dispute.

However the Philippines has been seeking greater US support in recent years after China began asserting its claim to disputed territory in the South China Sea.

China claims almost all of the strategically important body of water, even up to the coasts of its neighbours.

Last month, Chinese ships blocked Philippine vessels that were bringing supplies to a Philippine military outpost, and in January Chinese ships used water cannon on Filipino fishermen near a disputed shoal.

The Philippines has responded by filing a case with a United Nations tribunal to challenge China's territorial claim.

China has refused to participate in the case and has warned that the Philippines' action has "seriously damaged" bilateral ties.

MH370 chills China-Malaysia 'panda diplomacy'
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) April 11, 2014 - China has postponed plans to send a pair of pandas to Malaysia next week, a minister said Friday, as bilateral relations remain uneasy over the disappearance of flight MH370.

The two countries agreed in 2012 that China would send the giant pandas for a 10-year stay in Malaysia, in Beijing's latest use of "panda diplomacy" to cement ties with other countries.

But Malaysia's environment minister G. Palanivel told AFP: "They (China) are waiting for the results of MH370.

"They will delay the arrival," he said in a text message. "They might send in late May."

In a separate public statement, Palanivel said China and Malaysia have agreed that the giant pandas should arrive "at a more significant date" in May.

May 31 marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Palanivel did not elaborate on the reasons for the delay, but the circumstances of the animals' planned arrival appeared likely to cause embarrassment for China's government -- they were due arrive on April 16 on a Malaysia Airlines flight.

The airline and Malaysia's government have come under withering public criticism in China, whose 153 nationals made up the bulk of the 239 aboard the missing jet.

Flight MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. The plane is now believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, where efforts are under way to locate its flight data recorders on the seafloor.

Chinese relatives of the missing passengers have accused the Malaysian flag carrier and authorities of bungling the response to the plane's disappearance and withholding information, which Malaysia's government denies.

Chinese authorities allowed relatives to stage a rare public protest at Malaysia's embassy last month to vent their anger, suggesting official support for the criticism.

Malaysian news reports on Friday quoted government officials saying at least 30,000 Chinese tourists had cancelled holidays in Malaysia in the wake of the missing plane drama.

China is Malaysia's largest trading partner and Kuala Lumpur has been courting closer ties with Beijing. It had declared 2014 as "China-Malaysia Friendship Year".

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had requested the pandas from former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who left office last year.

The pandas -- Feng Yi ("Phoenix") and Fu Wa ("Lucky") -- have already caused controversy in Malaysia over plans to house them in special $7.7 million facility in the national zoo in Kuala Lumpur.

Environmentalists have said the money would have been better spent on conservation efforts for threatened Malaysian wildlife.

Malaysia's image in China took a further blow last week, when a Chinese tourist was kidnapped in an eastern state by gunmen believed to be Islamic militants from the southern Philippines. Malaysia has said ransom negotiations are under way.