Print
Email to Friends
Comment (During the past several years, bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries have enjoyed satisfying development, with the prospects for the future looking very good.
As close neighbors, China and the Philippines have a recorded history of friendship dating back many years. In 1975, China and the Philippines established diplomatic relations and since then, friendly cooperation between the two countries has experienced full development.
During his state visit to the Philippines in April 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao struck an important agreement with President Arroyo on building a strategic partnership between the two countries dedicated to peace and development. This gave a clear direction for the development of Sino-Philippine relations which has since ushered in one of the best periods of ties.
Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has reached a record high over the past few years, with bilateral trade volume hitting 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2005 and around 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2006.
The Chinese-financed Northrail project in the Philippines is under construction, and Chinese agricultural technology in planting hybrid rice and hybrid corn is helping the Philippines toseek self-reliance in food production and supply. The two countries are also cooperating in disaster relief operations to reduce the damaging effects of natural disasters such as typhoons, from which the Philippines suffers greatly every year.
Personnel exchanges at the basic social level between the two countries have also increased in recent years. More Chinese citizens come to the Philippines as tourists, students and businessmen. The two countries are increasing the number of flights to different cities and arranging more visits by artists and scholars, as well as increasing projects to jointly preserve ancient culture and arts objects. The Philippine government also strongly promotes the teaching of the Chinese language in the country's schools.
In the field of security, the Chinese and Philippine defense ministries have built a permanent mechanism for dialogue, under which regular consultations over security issues take place every year. The judicial and police authorities of the two countries have started cooperating in cracking down on trans-national crime. A bilateral treaty of extradition is expected to come into force this year.
The two countries have also reached a wide range of agreements on maintaining peace, promoting development in the Asia-Pacific region and furthering cooperation between China and ASEAN countries. Highly tangible results have come from these agreements and are contributing to building a harmonious and stable environment for social and economic development of the countries in the whole region.
As rotating president country of the ASEAN, the Philippines pays great importance to the development of relations between all ASEAN countries and China. President Arroyo and Premier Wen co-chaired a China-ASEAN summit in Nanning last November to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral dialog partnership between China and the ASEAN. The two sides reached a variety of agreements on further promoting political and economic cooperation in the future.
On the issue of the South China Sea, China, the Philippines and Vietnam reached an agreement in 2005 on the need for common maritime development, and agreed to carry out joint seismological research in the area. This has an important significance for maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and for increasing trust and cooperation among the countries bordering the body of water.