DAVAO CITY (November 17) — Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming to Manila on November 20 and 21 for a historical visit, it will be a first of its kind by a Chinese head of state since 2005.
Xi, will first attend the 2018 APEC summit in the PNG capital Port Moresby will visit ASEAN countries as part of his goodwill visit.
He is expected to visit Brunei and the Philippines, both important claimants in the hotly contested South China Sea.
The Chinese president is expected to position the China-Philippines relations “as a new model of international relations,” Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said Thursday.
“We have every reason to believe that this visit will enormously boost China-Philippines relations in the new era, position our relations as a new model of international relations and further contribute to the building of a community of shared future for mankind,” the envoy wrote in an article sent to the media.
“Standing at a new and crucial historical juncture, China and the Philippines are bound to build stronger strategic mutual trust, perform deeper economic cooperation and trade, and nurture closer people-to-people exchanges,” he added.
China, the Philippines, and several coastal states have conflicting claims in the South China Sea.
Zhao said China and the Philippines’ ties grew in the past two years, with increasing trade as well as with the continuous flow of investment to Manila from Beijing.
In the first three quarters in 2018, the Philippines has received more than 972,000 Chinese tourists, achieving a 34.9 percent year-on-year increase, Zhao noted.
With this, the envoy is optimistic the targeted 1.5 million Chinese tourists to the Philippines by end of 2018 will be reached.
“Proceeding from the principles of honoring traditional friendship, upholding peace and goodwill and advancing win-win cooperation, our two sides should by all means make the best and full use of the upcoming state visit by President Xi Jinping, and work together to make the Golden Age of China-Philippines relations richer and brighter than ever before,” Zhao said. -Newsline with PNA report
