Philippine president to meet with Xi, discuss opportunities for development

Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr said on Tuesday he looks forward to working with President Xi Jinping on a number of issues during his state visit to China to lift relations between the two countries to a "higher trajectory".

Shortly before his departure for Beijing in the afternoon, Marcos held a briefing, livestreamed by Philippine presidential broadcaster Radio Television Malacanang.

Marcos' visit from Tuesday to Thursday is the first state visit by a foreign leader to China this year, and it comes after the COVID-19 management policy was optimized.

At the briefing, Marcos said his visit to China is his seventh foreign trip since assuming the Philippine presidency last year, and, "significantly", it is his first bilateral visit to a country that is not a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"I look forward to my meeting with President Xi as we work toward shifting the trajectory of our relations to a higher gear that would hopefully bring numerous prospects and abundant opportunities for peace and development to the peoples of both our countries," Marcos said.

"In this regard, I also look forward to discussing political security issues of a bilateral and regional nature. The issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends such as the Philippines and China," he said.

Marcos recalled how China extended a helping hand to the Philippines in the country's battle against COVID-19 "in the form of vaccines, personal protective equipment and technical assistance at the initial onslaught of the pandemic".

"You were the first to come to our aid," Marcos said.

Henry Lim Bon Liong, president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc, said Marcos' visit was "auspicious", and not only because it comes at the start of a new year.

It "also comes at a time when both countries are recovering from the pandemic," Lim told China Daily.

"China's reopening will strengthen Asian economic resilience in 2023 amid recession worries for the US and Europe," he said. Lim added that the business sector has high hopes that exchanges and cooperation between China and the Philippines will increase by "leaps and bounds".

About a dozen representatives from the federation, a grouping of over 170 Filipino Chinese chambers of commerce and various trade organizations in the Philippines, are among the Filipino delegation to China.

Noting that tourism is one of the important pillars of the Philippine economy, Lim said the possible return of Chinese tourists "can be a major boost for the Philippine tourism industry".

About 1.74 million Chinese tourists visited the Philippines in 2019, making China the Philippines' second-largest tourism market, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Marcos said he would push for the resumption of tourism and cultural cooperation between China and the Philippines and seek to "harness the potentials of our vibrant trade and investment relations" to accelerate post-pandemic economic growth.

Lim said he began building a resort in Cebu, an island province in the country's central Visayas region, before the pandemic started and that he plans to resume construction this year. "Tourism not only benefits the resorts, hotels, airline and cruise ship companies, it also gives numerous jobs, from tour guides to handicraft makers," he said.

"It nourishes many diverse micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in even the most remote hinterlands, far-flung islands and rural regions of the Philippines."

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, a Philippine think tank, said Marcos' visit to China is important on several levels.

"It is a chance for both sides to discuss areas of cooperation, as well as persistent disputes," Pitlo told China Daily.

He said Manila will seek greater market access for its tropical fruit exports, including durians, and try to attract Chinese technological advances and investments to modernize Philippine farming.

Marcos, he added, may also ask China to help the Philippines develop the country's renewables, as energy shortages have undermined efforts to boost manufacturing and court foreign investment.

"Chinese innovation and investments can also spur Philippine digital connectivity and internet commerce," Pitlo added.