Philippine President's China visit bolsters bilateral ties

February 23, 2012   China.org.cn Edited by He Shan

President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines, leading a delegation of over 300 businessmen, paid a visit to China last year from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3. This was his first visit to China since he was elected president in June 2010, as well as his first state visit to a country other than the ASEAN countries, which demonstrates the high priority the Philippine government places on the relations with China as well as the deepening of pragmatic cooperation and the expansion of strategic consensus between the two countries.

China and the Philippines face each other across the South China Sea. The northernmost island of the Philippines is only 140 kilometers away from the southernmost island of Taiwan. China and the Philippines have been in contact with each other since the 3rd and 4th centuries.

After the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1975, their exchanges on politics, economy and trade, culture, technology and humanity have been expanding. The profound friendship between the two countries has been transformed into multilevel forms of diplomacy, including the leadership diplomacy and non-government diplomacy.

The leaders of both countries attach great importance to promoting bilateral cooperation with high-level visits. Analysts believe that the diplomatic policies of the Philippines have shifted their focus from the relationship with the U.S. and Japan to China. Meanwhile, the Philippines have started to put its priority on safeguarding its own interests, instead of on accommodating the U.S. When President Hu Jintao visited the Philippines in 2005, he reached a common view with the former Philippine President Arroyo that the Sino-Philippine relations have entered a golden period. The educational and humanity exchanges between the two countries and the formation of 26 pairs of sister cities have greatly promoted the Sino-Philippine friendship.

President Aquino’s visit to China was of great significance for promoting Sino-Philippine cooperation. The economic growth rate of the Philippines reached 7.3 percent last year, but its unemployment rate was also as high as 7.3 percent. Agriculture, its pillar industry, dropped 0.5 percent. Reviving its agricultural development and expanding its foreign trade have become the priorities of the country. The Philippine government has realized that the rocketing Chinese economy is the engine of the growth of the global economy. China and the Philippines are complementary on agriculture, so intensifying their agricultural cooperation will further promote their economic and trade cooperation. Although there had been some noises about the South China Sea disputes, the two countries shares a common ground in those disputes in that it is essential to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea area and the whole Asia-Pacific region. In addition, China and the Philippines have agreed to further strengthen their coordination and cooperation within the United Nations (UN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations Climate Change Conference, and other regions and organizations in the world.

It’s likely that the future China-Philippine relations will be prosperous. The two countries are expected to strengthen their bilateral economic and trade cooperation, as well as fully make use of the international trading platforms including ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, ASEAN–China Free Trade Area and China-ASEAN Expo to further boost the construction of regional economic integration and reach the target of US$60 billion in bilateral trade volume.

China and the Philippines could further promote the sea transportation of passengers and cargos, and try to solve the South China Sea disputes based on innovative ideas. Meanwhile, the China-ASEAN student exchange program and the Year of China-Philippine Friendship in 2012-13 are expected to promote the youth exchange and the bilateral relations between the two countries.

This is article was first published in Chinese and was translated into English by Xu Lin.