China's top legislature strongly protested against Vietnam's "erroneous" new maritime law and urged its Vietnamese counterpart to make an "immediate correction".

Hanoi's disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea have given rise to frictions, and analysts said the passed law may internationalize the issue and bring a heavy blow to bilateral relations.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of The National People's Congress expressed its position concerning Vietnam's Thursday move in a letter to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Xinhua reported on Friday.