China confident of growing ties with Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — China remains confident in the prospect of maintaining and improving its relations with the Philippines as President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping have established communication.

Asked for its comment on the developing Philippines-China relations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Beijing stands ready to continue to maintain close communication with the Philippine government under Duterte.

"We are fully confident in the prospect of China-Philippines relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a press briefing Thursday.

Hua said that Duterte and Xi have established "very smooth and effective channels of communication and dialogue."

"The two sides have reached important consensus on managing differences on maritime affairs and the cooperation in various fields progressed smoothly," Hua said.

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Duterte had made two visits to Beijing since taking office in July 2016 - the first in October 2016 where they signed several agreements and the second in May this year during the launch of the Belt and Road Forum.

The Philippine leader had also met with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit in Lima, Peru in November 2016.

The two leaders are expected to meet again at the APEC Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam this month.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that Beijing fully supports Duterte's anti-illegal drugs campaign and the government's anti-terrorism fight in Marawi City, as well as its rehabilitation.

China had provided over P7.3 million worth of military assistance to the Philippines, including 3,000 rifles and 6 million pieces of ammunition.

The Chinese government had also turned over $3 worth of construction equipment to be used for recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in war-torn Marawi.

READ: China turns over construction equipment for Marawi rehabilitation