Xi and Duterte agree to jointly promote BRI
CHINA and the Philippines agreed yesterday to upgrade their ties to comprehensive strategic cooperation and jointly advance the Belt and Road construction.
The decision was made at a meeting between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte in Manila.
The two leaders reached important consensus on building bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect, sincerity, equality and mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation.
Calling China and the Philippines “close neighbors with exchanges going back a thousand years,” Xi said goodneighborliness, friendship and win-win cooperation are the only correct choice for the two countries.
The upgrade of bilateral relations meets the expectation of both peoples and matches the development of China-Philippines ties, Xi said, calling on the two sides to enhance strategic guidance on bilateral relations by the two heads of state, promote exchanges on all levels, and consolidate strategic mutual trust.
China supports the Philippines in choosing a development path that suits its own national conditions, he said, adding that the two nations should deepen their cooperation on three pillar fields — security, development and culture.
China also firmly supports the Philippines’ fight against drugs and terrorism, will continue to provide assistance within its capacity to the Philippines to implement more public livelihood projects including poverty reduction, and expand exchanges and cooperation on education, culture and tourism, Xi said.
Duterte said the Philippine side is ready to deepen the relations of comprehensive strategic cooperation with China on the basis of mutual respect, mutual understanding and sovereign equality, strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, defense, health, drug control, improvement of livelihood, infrastructure construction and energy, as well as expand cultural and people-topeople exchanges in education and human resources.
The Philippine side agrees that countries in the region should jointly safeguard peace and stability of the South China Sea, and stands ready to actively promote the development of relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and China, he said.
China has stood on the right side of history in dealing with international affairs, Duterte said, adding that the Philippine side is ready to carry out closer communication and coordination with China within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations.
The two leaders also oversaw 29 agreements from cooperating in education, culture and industrial park development to jointly promoting infrastructure, agriculture cooperatives and establishing sanitation protocols for shipping coconuts.
Xi’s visit to the Philippines is the first by a Chinese president in 13 years. The Philippines is the last stop of Xi’s three-nation Asia-Pacific tour after Papua New Guinea and Brunei.