Duterte vows to pursue more projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative

BEIJING – The Philippines is ready to pursue more projects with China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as part of “a more comprehensive and strategic cooperation” between the two nations, President Duterte said Thursday.

The President made the commitment to broaden the country's engagements with China during a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

The meeting between the two leaders was held on the eve of the opening of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Coopera

tion, a platform for nations on regional connectivity, socio-economic development and trade, among others.

“Premier Li, I am very happy to be back to China for the second round of the program and the Philippines would like to reaffirm our commitment to friendship and understanding,” Duterte said at the start of the talks.

“Our cooperation has expanded tremendously since I first visited China. We envision a more comprehensive, strategic cooperation and I look forward to bolster engagements on the basis of mutual trust,” he added.

He also congratulated China for hosting the second Belt and Road Forum, saying the country's participation was an acknowledgement of the vision of “a global connectivity for shared prosperity.”

“For the signing of the MOU (memorandum of cooperation) on cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Philippines is ready to pursue more projects with China,” he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a major strategy initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping involving infrastructure development and other investments from Asia to Europe.

Prior to the meeting with Li, the President met with Xi and reaffirmed their resolve to further strengthen the relations of the two countries despite a lingering territorial conflict in the South China Sea.