The Philippines and China have discussed details of several economic cooperation agreements expected to be signed during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Philippines this month.
The discussions during the meeting on October 29 focused on the status of the economic cooperation agreements and documents, particularly those covering Chinese funding support for the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.
The Philippines is expected to sign at least five agreements with China during Xi’s state visit to the Philippines in the third week of November, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a statement.
The agreements cover loan and guarantee accords, economic and technical cooperation, support for the feasibility studies on the Philippines’ infrastructure projects, and promoting cooperation on key “Build, Build, Build” projects in Mindanao.
Dominguez, who led the Philippine side during the meeting, said the agreements slated to be signed during Xi’s visit are all “on track.”
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who led the Chinese delegation, provided updates on the Chinese side on the status of the “Build, Build, Build” projects that the Philippines is undertaking in cooperation with China.
Wang underscored the importance of economic cooperation to strengthen bilateral relations and enhance the well-being of the people of both countries. He also said improving economic cooperation is important in “realizing the long-term stable friendship between our two countries.”
Wang cited the significant growth of two-way trade between the Philippines and China as well as the rising number of Chinese investments in the Philippines, which he said have increased “by more than 500%” in the first six months of 2018.
“The economic cooperation between our two countries now is in a good position,” Wang said.
Dominguez, in turn, pointed out that China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, is now the Philippines’ biggest trading partner with total trade amounting to US$44.8 billion in 2017 and $33.5 billion from January to August this year.
The meeting held in Davao follows the high-level bilateral meeting between the two countries held last August in Beijing, where “both our Governments expressed full commitment to our shared goals of implementing the important consensus reached between our leaders, as well as bringing our bilateral relations to a higher level through enhanced cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said that following the August meeting in Beijing, DOF, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, Bases Conversion and Development Authority, and officials of the Philippine Embassy and Chinese Embassy have set up a technical working group to orient Philippine officials on the organizational structure, procedures, and financing terms of the newly formed China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).
CIDCA is tasked to administer foreign aid and development assistance to other countries. The new organization was among the reforms unveiled by China during its National People’s Congress held in March 2018.
