China Coast Guard personnel had retrieved 17 Filipino crew members from a shipwreck in the South China Sea as of 12.30pm, the People's Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command said on Friday.

Fourteen of those rescued are in stable condition and one is in emergency care, while two had died, the command said.

It added that, at around 9.30pm on Thursday, a foreign cargo ship en route from the Philippines to Guangdong "had tilted and lost contact" in waters about 55 nautical miles northwest of Huangyan Dao, with a total of 21 crew members on board.

Upon receiving a report in the early hours of Friday regarding this accident, the Southern Theatre Command immediately sent military aircraft to conduct search operations over the waters where the accident occurred.

Two nearby China Coast Guard vessels also joined the search and rescue mission.

Chinese maritime authorities are dispatching additional rescue forces to the area, while search and rescue efforts remain ongoing, the command said. (Xinhua)