People's Daily Online -- Sino-Philippine ties undergoing quick development
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UPDATED: 16:58, April 25, 2005
Sino-Philippine ties undergoing quick development
Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to the Philippines on April 26-28 at the invitation of his Philippine counterpart Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The visit is made at a time when the Sino-Philippine relations of strategic cooperation are seeing a momentum of rapid development in both political and economic fields between China and the Philippines and between China and ASEAN countries.
As former Philippine President Fidel Ramos has said, the Sino-Philippine relationship is now at its best in history and China has become an important partner of the Philippines in trade and investment for the first time in history.
The friendship between Chinese and Filipino peoples dated centuries back with trade and exchanges in ancient times. In 1975, China and the Philippines established diplomatic relations and both official cooperation and people's understanding and friendship between the two countries have developed greatly since then.
Over the past few years, the Sino-Philippine relations have been developing quickly with significant results in political, economic, cultural and other fields.
In the political field, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo paid a state visit to China in June 2004, followed by
visits to Beijing by Philippine Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo. During these visits, Chinese and Philippine leaders reached broad consensus in their talks.
In the economy and trade field, President Arroyo and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have set the goal of lifting bilateral trade volume to 10 billion US dollars in 2005. However, Sino-Philippine trade volume reached 13.3 billion US dollars in 2004 already, a 41 percent increase over 2003. The Philippines has thus become the country with the fastest pace of trade growth with China among ASEAN countries.
China and the Philippines are also developing cooperative relations in other sectors. In the agricultural sector, with help from Chinese experts, the Philippines, a major rice importer in the past, has now become 90 percent self-sufficient in rice production thanks to Chinese hybrid rice technology.
In the sector of infrastructure, China has provided 400 million US dollars preferential buyer's credit to help build the first phase of the North Luzon Railway starting from the northern part of Metro Manila. This will greatly help the development of the areas around the Filipino capital along the railway and help solve the problems of overpopulation and traffic jams in the capital area. Chinese companies are also helping the Philippines renovate fishing port facilities.
The Philippines has also expressed strong wish to have Chinese investment in its rich mineral resources. With the adoption of a law by the Philippine Supreme Court allowing foreign participation in mining in the Philippines, the two countries can have bright perspective in mining cooperation.
Over the issue of South China Sea, China and the Philippines have decided to put aside their territorial disputes and engage in joint development of the region. The leaders of the two countries witnessed the signing of an agreement on joint seismologic undertaking in agreed areas in the South China Sea during the visit to Beijing by President Arroyo.
This agreement signaled not only a substantial breakthrough in the efforts to solve bilateral disputes over the South China Sea territory, but also set an example for all claimant parties of the region to seek a peaceful solution to their disputes.
Along with the maturing of political relations between China and the Philippines, the defense officials of the two countries have also begun to engage in cooperation in security and defense with the establishment of a mechanism of dialogue in the field.
Faced with complicated international and regional situations, the two countries have expressed their intention to strengthen information exchange and strategic cooperation in the field of security, to jointly contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, China and the Philippines have been making progress in cooperation in building a free trade zone and in cooperation in regional affairs.
The Philippines joined this year the "Early Harvest Plan" in the framework of a China-ASEAN free trade area, signaling the completion of the earliest phase in the building of a regional free trade area which will cover a market of 1.8 billion consumers, 2 trillion US dollars of GDP, and 2 trillion US dollars in trade volume.
Chinese and Philippine officials have estimated that in five years from now, the Sino-Philippine trade volume will attain at least 20 billion US dollars. The two countries see huge potential for cooperation in infrastructure, mining, fishing, forestry and many other fields. China will continue to support the Philippines to develop its agriculture with Chinese technology and equipment.
In the field of people-to-people exchanges, more and more Filipinos are visiting China and have become aware of the
importance of the role being played by China in economic development and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Former Philippine President Ramos once said that Filipinos used to focus their pay interest in the United States, Europe and Japan, but now they are equally interested in China, as they have realized the importance of China in regional development and stability.
China's policy of seeking good neighborly relations and common prosperity with Asian countries has laid a solid foundation for developing relations with ASEAN countries, including the Philippines.
China is hopeful that political and economic relations with ASEAN countries will be further strengthened in the future, which will contribute to maintaining peace, stability and development in the whole Asia-Pacific region.
People's Daily Online -- Sino-Philippine ties undergoing quick development
UPDATED: 16:58, April 25, 2005
Sino-Philippine ties undergoing quick development
Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to the Philippines on April 26-28 at the invitation of his Philippine counterpart Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The visit is made at a time when the Sino-Philippine relations of strategic cooperation are seeing a momentum of rapid development in both political and economic fields between China and the Philippines and between China and ASEAN countries.
As former Philippine President Fidel Ramos has said, the Sino-Philippine relationship is now at its best in history and China has become an important partner of the Philippines in trade and investment for the first time in history.
The friendship between Chinese and Filipino peoples dated centuries back with trade and exchanges in ancient times. In 1975, China and the Philippines established diplomatic relations and both official cooperation and people's understanding and friendship between the two countries have developed greatly since then.
Over the past few years, the Sino-Philippine relations have been developing quickly with significant results in political, economic, cultural and other fields.
In the political field, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo paid a state visit to China in June 2004, followed by
visits to Beijing by Philippine Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo. During these visits, Chinese and Philippine leaders reached broad consensus in their talks.
In the economy and trade field, President Arroyo and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have set the goal of lifting bilateral trade volume to 10 billion US dollars in 2005. However, Sino-Philippine trade volume reached 13.3 billion US dollars in 2004 already, a 41 percent increase over 2003. The Philippines has thus become the country with the fastest pace of trade growth with China among ASEAN countries.
China and the Philippines are also developing cooperative relations in other sectors. In the agricultural sector, with help from Chinese experts, the Philippines, a major rice importer in the past, has now become 90 percent self-sufficient in rice production thanks to Chinese hybrid rice technology.
In the sector of infrastructure, China has provided 400 million US dollars preferential buyer's credit to help build the first phase of the North Luzon Railway starting from the northern part of Metro Manila. This will greatly help the development of the areas around the Filipino capital along the railway and help solve the problems of overpopulation and traffic jams in the capital area. Chinese companies are also helping the Philippines renovate fishing port facilities.
The Philippines has also expressed strong wish to have Chinese investment in its rich mineral resources. With the adoption of a law by the Philippine Supreme Court allowing foreign participation in mining in the Philippines, the two countries can have bright perspective in mining cooperation.
Over the issue of South China Sea, China and the Philippines have decided to put aside their territorial disputes and engage in joint development of the region. The leaders of the two countries witnessed the signing of an agreement on joint seismologic undertaking in agreed areas in the South China Sea during the visit to Beijing by President Arroyo.
This agreement signaled not only a substantial breakthrough in the efforts to solve bilateral disputes over the South China Sea territory, but also set an example for all claimant parties of the region to seek a peaceful solution to their disputes.
Along with the maturing of political relations between China and the Philippines, the defense officials of the two countries have also begun to engage in cooperation in security and defense with the establishment of a mechanism of dialogue in the field.
Faced with complicated international and regional situations, the two countries have expressed their intention to strengthen information exchange and strategic cooperation in the field of security, to jointly contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, China and the Philippines have been making progress in cooperation in building a free trade zone and in cooperation in regional affairs.
The Philippines joined this year the "Early Harvest Plan" in the framework of a China-ASEAN free trade area, signaling the completion of the earliest phase in the building of a regional free trade area which will cover a market of 1.8 billion consumers, 2 trillion US dollars of GDP, and 2 trillion US dollars in trade volume.
Chinese and Philippine officials have estimated that in five years from now, the Sino-Philippine trade volume will attain at least 20 billion US dollars. The two countries see huge potential for cooperation in infrastructure, mining, fishing, forestry and many other fields. China will continue to support the Philippines to develop its agriculture with Chinese technology and equipment.
In the field of people-to-people exchanges, more and more Filipinos are visiting China and have become aware of the
importance of the role being played by China in economic development and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Former Philippine President Ramos once said that Filipinos used to focus their pay interest in the United States, Europe and Japan, but now they are equally interested in China, as they have realized the importance of China in regional development and stability.
China's policy of seeking good neighborly relations and common prosperity with Asian countries has laid a solid foundation for developing relations with ASEAN countries, including the Philippines.
China is hopeful that political and economic relations with ASEAN countries will be further strengthened in the future, which will contribute to maintaining peace, stability and development in the whole Asia-Pacific region.
People's Daily Online -- Sino-Philippine ties undergoing quick development
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