China, the Philippines entering a 'golden era' of bilateral ties

On Tuesday, President Xi started his official state visit to the Philippines at the invitation of President Rodrigo Duterte. This is the first visit of a Chinese president to the Philippines in 13 years and it marks a crucial moment to reflect on the remarkable achievements in all-round cooperation in bilateral ties of the past two years.

In fact, since President Duterte took office in 2016, Sino-Philippine relations were highly boosted. According to national statistics, China's trade volume with the Philippines reached US$50 billion, making China the Philippines' largest trading partner, export market and greatest source of imports.

Last year the Philippines exported US$19.2 billion with an increase of 10.5 percent compared to 2016. Such enhanced exchange of goods can be seen also in increasing tourism. Chinese tourists travelling to the Philippines almost tripled in less than three years, from 490,000 in 2015 and expected to reach 1.5 million in 2018, making China the Philippines' second largest source of tourists.

All these fruitful outcomes have been possible due to the two sides' reengagement in consultation and dialogue in handling the South China issue. Sino-Philippine ties "have now seen a rainbow after the rain," writes President Xi in a signed article recently published in Philippine newspapers.

China and the Philippines have enjoyed historical friendship and since 1975, when the two countries established diplomatic relations, they have made great progress in the political, economic, educational, cultural, scientific and technological spheres, based always on the principles of equality and mutual benefit.

The two sides have been working to effectively control their divergence on maritime issues and engage in practical cooperation, said Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua. Joint efforts in promoting stability, peace and cooperation in the South China Sea is fundamental and the two sides' experience and practices can also serve as a guiding line for the region, added Ambassador Zhao.

Cooperation could be further explored in many other fields. The Belt and Road Initiative is well aligned with the Philippines' AmBisyon Natin 2040 development strategy, a collective long-term vision focused not only on socio-economic development, but also on people's welfare through building "a prosperous middle class society where no one is poor" by 2040.

In this regards, with around 800 million people lifted out of poverty in four decades of opening-up and reform, China’s expertise in this field can definitely be further shared with the Philippines and other countries and regions in the world. China is also committed to strengthen cooperation with the Philippines in defense, drug control, counter-terrorism, disaster management as well as cybercrimes.

Under the leadership of President Duterte, China and the Philippines have much to gain with increased interaction. The two sides can further work on deepening political mutual trust to support the growth of China-Philippine relations and practical cooperation in tourism, infrastructure, agriculture and many other fields are all highly significant.

The visit is expected to celebrate the astonishing achievements of the last two years and further explore development cooperation, but most importantly the visit will bring China and the Philippines to a 'golden era', characterized by mutual trust and enhanced dialogue in all issues.

The author is a graduate of China Studies and International Relations at Peking University and the London School of Economics. Currently, he is working in the fields of development and public policy.