The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, conducted take-off and landing drills in the Yellow Sea on October 14, 2016. [Photo: cankaoxiaoxi.com]

China's defense department says it has kept a close watch on the joint naval exercises between the United States and South Korea in Korean waters.

The remarks come following reports that the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, conducted take-off and landing drills in the Yellow Sea while en route to the exercise area.

Both South Korea and the US claimed that the large-scale exercises in the seas off the Korean Peninsula were a show of force against possible provocations from North Korea.

In a response via its official Weibo account, the Chinese Defense Ministry urged related parties to keep calm and excercise restraint to avoid an escalation of tensions in the region.

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea.

It is located between China and the Korean Peninsula.