Members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) welcome the new BRP Melchora Aquino, a multi-role response vessel (MRRV) at the PCG headquarters in Port Area in Manila. ABS-CBN News/File  

MANILA -- The Philippines has agreed to buy five coast guard patrol ships from Japan in a deal worth more than $400 million, Manila said Friday, as the Southeast Asian country faces growing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea.

Japan will loan the Philippines 64.38 billion yen ($413 million) to buy the five 97-metre Multi-Role Response Vessels and pay for the "development of the required support facilities", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"This will support the PCG in improving its capabilities for maritime operations particularly in addressing transnational crimes," the statement said, referring to the Philippine Coast Guard.

Japan is a top provider of overseas development assistance to the Philippines.

The countries are seeking to deepen their security cooperation as China becomes more assertive in pressing its claims in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

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