.jpg "China lands more civilian planes on Fiery Cross reef")
Vietnam and the US protested China`s 2 January landing of a plane on the reef. The resource-rich South China Sea is claimed by multiple countries.
China claims nearly the whole sea and is locked in a territorial dispute with other Asian nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines, who also claim parts of it.
Xinhua said that the China Southern and Hainan Airlines planes took off from Haikou airport on Wednesday morning and landed on Fiery Cross around 10:30am (02:30 GMT). They returned to mainland China in the afternoon.
Pictures show the planes on a brand-new strip of tarmac at what Xinhua called "our country`s most southern airport".
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