On June 9, 1975, the late Premier Zhou Enlai and the late Philippine President Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos signed a joint communiqué of the establishment of diplomatic ties in Beijing and formally established diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level. Meanwhile, the Philippines severed diplomatic relations with the so called ROC government and the Philippines and the PRC also signed a trade agreement.
In 1977, China and the Philippines began their annual bureau-level Trade Joint Committee meeting alternately held in Beijing and Manila, discussing the signing of trade protocols and arrangements for the major import and export commodities between the two countries.
In 1978, the two countries signed an "Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation".
In 1979, the two countries signed the "Cultural Cooperation Agreement" and the "Air Services Agreement".
In August 1981, the late Premier Zhao Ziyang visited the Philippines.
In 1986, the Philippines and China established a diplomatic consultation mechanism and held a host of diplomatic consultations.
In April 1988, former President Aquino visited China.
In December 1990, former Premier Li Peng visited the Philippines.
In 1992, the two countries signed an agreement to encourage investment and mutual protection.
In April 1993, former President Ramos visited China. In the same month, President Ramos ordered the cancellation of the discriminatory trade measures against China, steering Sino-Philippine trade to normal track.
In August 1993, former Chairman Qiao Shi of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress visited the Philippines.
In 1993, the two countries signed the "Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement".
In June 1994, former vice-president of the Philippines Estrada visited China.
In October 1995, former Senate President of the Philippines Gonzalez visited China.
In November 1996, Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to the Philippines. The two nations’ leaders agreed to establish good-neighborly and cooperative relations based on mutual trust. On the issue of the South China Sea, they reached an important consensus and understanding to "put aside disputes and jointly develop" the South China Sea region.
In April 1997, the Senate Chairman Masada visited China.
In May 1997, the Philippine General Consulate was established in Guangzhou.
In June 1998, Xie Fei, the late vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress attended the Philippine Independent Centennial meeting as an envoy and met former President Ramos and the then-newly-elected President Estrada.
In March 1999, a confidence-building working group on the South China Sea held its first meeting in Manila.
In November 1999, former Premier Zhu Rongji paid an official visit to the Philippines, and attended the third informal meeting held by leaders from ASEAN, Japan, ROK and China in Manila.
In 1999, the finance ministers of the two countries signed "Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation"; the ministers of agriculture of the two countries signed the "Cooperation Agreement on the strengthening of agriculture and related fields".
In March 2000, former Vice President Arroyo visited China.
In May 2000, former Philippine President Estrada paid a state visit to China, during which the two nations’ foreign ministers signed a joint statement on the framework of bilateral cooperation in the 21st century; the two nations also signed an implementation plan of the agreement on cultural cooperation, and exchanged notes on the establishment of the China Agricultural Technology Center in the Philippines.
In May 2000, former Philippine President Estrada paid a state visit to China.
In September 2000, former Philippine Justice Minister Tu Kuiluo visited China, and signed the Sino-Philippine treaties of criminal and judicial assistance.
In October 2000, Reyes, former Philippine Army Chief of Staff, visited China.
In 2000, the two sides signed a credit agreement, in which China provided US$100 million credit to the Philippines.
In 2000, the Philippines opened a General Consulate in Macau.
In January 2001, former Philippine Defense Secretary Morcar visited China.
In May 2001, the construction of Sino-Philippine Agricultural Technology Center assisted by China started in the Philippines.
In June 2001, four Chinese were kidnapped in the Philippines; in the same month, Xiao Yang, former President of the Chinese Supreme People's Court, attended the centenary anniversary of the Philippine Supreme Court.
In August 2001, Philippine government troops waged war against the kidnappers; two of the four hostages were killed. In the same month, former chief grand justice of the Philippine Supreme Court Davide visited China.
In October 2001, former President Arroyo attended the 9th APEC informal leadership meeting and paid a state visit to China. During the visit, the two sides signed an extradition treaty, MOU on combating transnational crime, and a cooperation agreement on combating trafficking; and held an exchange at the Philippine General Consulate in Shanghai.
In November 2001, Chen Jinhua, former Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee attended the 27th Industry and Trade meeting in the Philippines.
In January 2002, former Philippine President Arroyo issued the presidential decree, naming June 9 "Sino-Philippine Friendship Day". It was on that day that the two nations established the diplomatic ties in 1975.
In April 2002, former Philippine Defense Secretary Reyes visited China.
In June 2002, the Philippine Foreign Ministry and Chinese from all walks of life held a series of celebrations; and former President Arroyo also attended the activities. In the same month, the Philippine Air Force Commander visited China; and the Philippine Navy fleet made its first visit to China.
In July 2002, the Philippine General Consulate in Shanghai was opened; former Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Bach visited China and held the annual diplomatic consultation with former Chinese vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two ministers also held their first consular consultations.
In August 2002, Cebu Pacific Airlines of the Philippines opened regular Manila-Guangzhou-Laoag round-trip flights.
In September 2002, former Chairman Li Peng of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made an official goodwill visit to the Philippines, during which visit the two sides signed a MOU between the NPC Standing Committee and the Philippine House of Representatives. In the same month, the Philippine tourism minister, together with the Philippine tourism promotion delegation, visited China and signed the" MOU on cooperation in tourism" with China.
In October 2002, former Philippine President Aquino came to Shanghai to attend the first anniversary of the opening of the Shanghai Branch of the Metropolitan Bank of the Philippines; and former Philippine President Ramos attended the Global Business Leaders Forum and the Boao Forum.
In November 2002, former Philippine President Ramos attended the Third Global Think Tank Forum held in Shenzhen.
In 2002 the two countries signed the loan agreement on the renovation and expansion project of the fishing port of the General Santos Port, a MOU of the North Luzon Manila-Clark High Speed Rail project and a MOU of Manila-South Luzon Railway project.
In March 2003, the First Philippine Trade Fair was held in Shanghai and former House Speaker of the Philippine government De Venecia came to Shanghai with his delegation.
In March 2003, the Sino-Philippine Agricultural Technology Center assisted by China was completed and former Philippine President Arroyo attended the opening ceremony.
In August 2003, Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the NPC attended the fourth annual meeting of the Asian Association of Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) held in Manila; and the two sides signed a US$400 million loan MOU and exchanged a US$1 billion currency swap agreement.
In November 2003, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation announced that it had signed an agreement with the Philippine National Oil exploration company, intending to jointly develop the South China Sea oil and gas resources, according to which the two sides agreed to form a joint working committee and begin the selection of suitable regions for oil and gas exploration. At the same time, the two sides agreed to jointly develop review programs, and to assess and evaluate the selected areas in order to forecast the prospects for oil and gas exploration.
In April 2004, Franklin Drilon, former President of the Philippine Liberal Party and Senate President came to China with his party’s delegation.
In September 2004, Arroyo paid a state visit to China and attended the third International Conference of Asian Political Parties held in Beijing; during which the two countries signed the Sino-Philippine Fishery Cooperation Agreement, the Implementation Plan of Tourism Cooperation Agreement and a bilateral marine seismic operations agreement for parts of the South China Sea. The two nations also issued a joint press communiqué, in which the Philippines recognized China's market economy status.
In October 2004, Wu Guanzheng held a friendly visit to the Philippines.
On March 14, 2005, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the Philippine National Oil Company and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Company signed a three-year tripartite joint marine seismic work agreement on the South China Sea in Manila, capital of the Philippines. The three companies decided to explore the oil resources in a 143,000-square kilometer area.
This agreement only involved the pre-assessment phase, not the post-exploration drilling. The three parties each contributed about $ 15 million to begin work on the project.
In April 2005, President Hu Jintao paid a state visit to the Philippines.
In January 2007, Premier Wen Jiabao paid an official visit to the Philippines, after which the two nations issued a joint statement.
In November 2009, Chairman Jia Qinglin of the CPPCC National Committee paid an official goodwill visit to the Philippines.
On February 26, 2010, China ratified the Consular Agreement of People's Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines.
From August 30 to September 3, 2011, President Aquino visited China, marking Aquino’s first state visit to China. The two sides signed a joint statement following the visit.