There have also been several incidents involving military aircraft flying close to each other. In October, Chinese military aircraft flew near Japan three days in a row, and Japan scrambled fighter jets each time in response.
The new Chinese rules mean aircraft have to report flight plans to China's Foreign Ministry or civil aviation administration, maintain radio contact and reply promptly to identification inquiries, keep radar transponders turned on, and bear clear markings of their nationality and registration.
The Defence Ministry said it was the "administrative organ" for the zone, Xinhua said.
The zone is outside China's territorial airspace, but Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said in an interview carried by Xinhua that its establishment had a sound legal basis and accorded with common international practices.
He noted that other countries had established similar zones and said China would put more in place in future.
"It is a necessary measure in China's exercise of self-defence rights. It has no particular target and will not affect the freedom of flight in relevant airspace," Yang said.
(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo, and Steve Holland and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Andrew Roche and Peter Cooney)
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