(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday hailed the improvement in relations between the two countries.
Premier Li even likened the existing relationship to the weather in Manila during a joint press conference with his Philippine counterpart after bilateral talks in Malacanang.
“Winter has come to the northern hemisphere but the temperature in Manila is still running pretty high. I think that somewhat reflects the temperature of China-Philippines relations which is also going pretty high on the basis of the positive improvement of relations between the two countries,” Li, through an interpreter, said.
He said the “ice-breaking trip” was Duterte’s visit to China last year.
After the first ten months of this year, Li noted that China has become the Philippines top trading partner.
He said China has also imported some 13,000 batches of tropical fruits from the Philippines, 14 new flights have been opened between the two countries, and Chinese tourists were expected to make around one million trips to the Philippines by the end of this year.
“The practical cooperation between us in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture, and poverty alleviation has also been going strong,” Li said.
“Positive turnaround”
Duterte, for his part, noted the “positive turnaround and vigorous momentum of Philippine-China relations.”
“Mutual trust and confidence-building have led to increased interaction on many levels of our two governments,” he said.
He added the “practical cooperation in many areas is bringing in an early harvest of tangible benefits,” including the securing of “peace and stability and development in the region.”
He said he was “very much eager to sit down and discuss with Premier Li how we can further advance Philippine-China relations to a functional cooperation in key areas such as trade, agriculture, education, science and technology, and people to people exchanges.”
“We will also discuss shared interests and mutual concerns on defense, security and maritime cooperation, law and enforcement, transnational crimes as well as cooperation on how our two countries can confront the drug menace that haunts both shores,” Duterte said.
“We hope that we will continue to work together to strengthen this positive momentum and work together to make up for time we may have lost,” Li added.
It is Li’s first visit to the Philippines as premier of China.
His visit comes a day after the conclusion of the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings chaired by Duterte.
