This is the moment China Coast Guard (CCG) ships reportedly blocked Filipino fishermen sailing off a province in the Philippines.

Footage shows CCG vessel 21558 looming near the Filipino villagers riding wooden boats some 54 nautical miles off the town of Rizal in Palawan province, on February 2. Another CCG ship was seen looming in the distance.

One of the fishermen can be heard saying: 'Here comes the Chinese ship. They're blocking us and taking videos of us.'

Onlooker Precious Joy Galicia, who was riding one of the boats, said: 'They drove us away. They intimidated us with a water cannon. They took it out, but they didn't fire it.'

The locals said they were collecting their fishing aggregate devices when the Chinese ships approached.

China has been sending numerous coast guard vessels near the shores of the Philippines on maritime patrol since early January.

One of them is the massive CCG 5901, the world's largest coast guard vessel at 541 feet and 12,000 tons, which started lurking off the seaside province of Zambales on January 4 afternoon.

Authorities believe the ships were deployed to intimidate Filipino fishermen from entering the Scarborough Shoal, a disputed fishing ground and resource-rich area in the South China Sea.

Expansionist China currently lays claim over almost the entire South China Sea, one of the world's busiest sea lanes. But a United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 deemed its claims groundless.

The Communist rogue state - accused of genocide for its crimes against the Uyghur population - has been steadily increasing its influence in recent years through investment in developing countries.