A Chinese surveillance ship has been confirmed to be sailing off the east coast of Australia as the Talisman Sabre war games are underway.

The photo confirmed by the Australian Defence Force shows a RAAF P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft passing a Chinese Navy Dongdiao Class Auxiliary Intelligence ship in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland.

The ADF is expected to release a more detailed statement on the surveillance ship later today.

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It comes as the Talisman Sabre war games are underway with 13 nations participating in "high end, multi-domain warfighting" across sea, land, air, cyber and space.

The military exercise is to improve relationships between military forces through various operations.

More than 30,000 military personnel are involved in the war games.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday in regards to reports of the foreign surveillance vessel that "there is always" a Chinese ship watching the war games.

"That's fine. They're acting in accordance with international law, and so this is to be completely expected," he said.

"For us, it's really about our capability and our capacity, and it is very much about our ability to work with other countries, our friends and our allies, and particularly the United States."

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