Philippines seeks to expand economic cooperation with China
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. emphasized the need to expand economic cooperation between Philippines and China during his meeting with Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
According to a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary, Marcos wanted the two countries to pursue more engagements in trade and economy to help both countries recover from the pandemic.
“We have considered in the Philippines of primary importance to increase the relationship and to strengthen the relationship between China and the Philippines,” Marcos said.
The chief executive added that both countries should also work on projects in the education sector, trade and investment, on top of people-to-people exchanges.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Martin Romualdez described their meeting with NPC Chairman Li as a “very positive engagement.” He said Li wanted both countries to have high-level exchanges through China’s parliament and members of the Philippine congress.
“He feels and believes that our relations should be deepened and strengthened through our legislative bodies having active coordination and more engagements and meetings so that’s why we’ll look forward to the invitations that have actually been extended in previous years, but due to COVID, did not materialize,” Romualdez said.
Marcos Jand members of the Philippine delegation will be in China until Thursday, January 5. Based on previous statements, Marcos is also scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
Up to 14 bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during Marcos's visit, which ends on Thursday.
The Philippine government said last week both sides would sign a communication agreement to "avoid miscalculation and miscommunication in the West Philippine Sea", referring to the part of the South China Sea that it claims.
Marcos has insisted he will not let China trample on the Philippines' maritime rights in the area -- in contrast to his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who was reluctant to criticise the superpower.
The Philippines ordered its military last month to boost its presence in the contested waters after a Bloomberg report that China had started reclaiming several unoccupied land features around the Spratly Islands.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of it.
Marcos said on Tuesday before leaving for China he hoped to address "political security issues of a bilateral and regional nature".
"The issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends," he said. — with report from Agence France-Presse
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