China, Philippines agree on 30 projects worth US$3.7b
Print Edition
CHINA has agreed to cooperate with the Philippines on 30 projects worth US$3.7 billion focusing on poverty reduction, the two countries said after a meeting in Beijing yesterday.
Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng announced the deals without giving details, saying it was an “initial batch” of projects that still needed to be finalized and paperwork still needed to be processed by the banks involved.
Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he and Gao had discussed large projects in rural areas, as well as some smaller projects.
The deal is the first announcement from a two-day visit by a Philippine delegation to China that comes three months after President Rodrigo Duterte visited Beijing to pave the way for new commercial alliances.
China has welcomed Duterte’s foreign policy shift away from traditional ally the United States and toward doing more regional deals for loans and business under his “pro-Filipino” policy.
Relations between the Philippines and China “fully recovered” after Duterte’s visit, and “China supports President Duterte to lead the Philippine people in developing their economy,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing yesterday.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang told the Philippines’ delegation that the two countries were friends and there was enormous potential to develop trade and business ties, Xinhua news agency reported.
Both countries should continue to push for the healthy development of relations, he said.
Chinese officials pledged US$15 billion of investment to the Philippines during Duterte’s visit in October, according to the Philippine finance department.
Asked whether US President Donald Trump’s economic policies would affect ties between China and the Philippines, Dominguez said: “It’s better to be with good friends.”
He told reporters: “I’m not sure at this moment exactly what the new US policies are, but I believe that the reorientation of our president to our neighbors really was very smart.”
The Philippine team on the trip includes Duterte’s finance, budget, economic, public works and transport secretaries.
The two sides will also discuss the Philippines’ chairmanship of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations this year.
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