China, Philippines vow to further promote bilateral ties

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte agreed on Wednesday to further promote bilateral relations and advance cooperation between their two countries in various fields.

At a meeting with the outgoing Philippine president, Wang said under the guidance of the two countries' leaders, the relations between China and the Philippines have achieved a complete turnaround over the past six years.

The two sides have redefined their relationship as comprehensive strategic cooperation, enhanced good-neighborly friendship and cooperation, properly managed differences, and jointly worked for common development, which have ushered in a new era for furthering cooperation in various fields, Wang said.

Noting that both sides have dovetailed the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Philippines' "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure development program, he said bilateral trade has doubled and China has also quadrupled its investment in the Philippines during the past six years.

The two countries have been supporting each other to tide over difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said.

By taking into consideration the overall situation of maintaining regional stability, he said both sides have sticked to dialogue and consultation to properly manage maritime disputes so that the China-Philippine ties are moving forward in the right direction.

The two sides have maintained sound communication and coordination on multilateral international affairs, and worked together to safeguard genuine multilateralism and the interests of developing countries, he said.

Wang hoped that President Duterte will continue to support the development of China-Philippine ties and play an important role in carrying forward the China-Philippine friendship.

Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, Duterte said, the Philippine-China relations have been further consolidated, with fruitful results achieved in various areas of cooperation.

He expressed appreciation to Chinese leaders and the Chinese government for their sincere help to the Philippine government and people, noting that he is ready to continue to make his contributions to the Philippine-China friendship and cooperation.

On the same day, Wang also met with Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who was sworn into office on June 19.

He said that over the past six years, the two countries, focusing on development and people's livelihood, have carried out numerous beneficial cooperation projects, including the construction of the Davao City-Samal Island connector bridge, and have seen fruitful results.

China is willing to work with the Philippines to further cultivate and expand new areas of cooperation on people's livelihood, and deepen cooperation on education to help the Philippines better enhance its talent competitiveness, he added.

China, Wang said, will also continue to promote sub-national cooperation between the two countries to foster people-to-people ties and consolidate the foundation of public support for the China-Philippine friendship.

For her part, Duterte-Carpio said the new Philippine government will adhere to the foreign policy of good-neighborliness and friendship with China, and looks forward to deepening cooperation with China in various fields, drawing on China's successful experience to boost the socio-economic development of the Philippines, and pushing the relationship between the Philippines and China to a higher level.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, Wang will attend the Philippine presidential inauguration of Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Thursday.