China's Coast Guard has rescued two Philippine fishermen after their vessel encountered rough seas off Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, and it is helping search for other missing fishermen, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday.

Philippine Coast Guard officials said on Monday that they had launched a search and rescue operation for five Filipinos who had failed to return to port after a typhoon struck, the Associated Press reported.

The Philippine Coast Guard was coordinating operations with its Chinese counterpart, AP quoted Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo as saying.