Named by the Indonesian government in July 2017, Indonesia changed the northern part of its Exclusive Economic Zone in the South China Sea to the North Natuna Sea, bordering the southern part of Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone.

[5] In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, related to the determination of territorial boundaries and exclusive economic zones, was signed by various parties.

Due to the geographical location and geological activity in this area, the North Natuna Sea region has abundant natural resources.

The Mekong River, which flows off the coast of Vietnam, supplies nutrients from the land to the bottom of the South China Sea.

[9] The North Natuna Sea is the Republic of Indonesia Fisheries Management Area (WPP NRI) 711.

[11] The North Natuna Sea area itself has a total of sixteen oil and gas field blocks, but as of 2021 there are eleven oil and gas blocks that have been managed among them:[12][13] Often, the Chinese and Indonesian governments both assert that there is no state of dispute concerning their territorial claims, a stance taken to foster and maintain positive bilateral relations between the two nations.

[14][15][16] In 2014, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang stated that “There is no territorial dispute between Indonesia and China.”[17] In 2015, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi also followed by asserting that "Indonesia does not have overlapping claim with any other countries" and that "no country ever claimed Natuna Islands.

"[18] Even so, overlapping the claimed waters of the North Natuna Sea, which is Indonesia's EEZ with China's nine-dash line, China's claim to Indonesian waters is approximately 83,000 km2 or 30 per cent of Indonesia's sea area in Natuna.