Marcos back in Manila after China state visit

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. arrived in Manila on Thursday afternoon following his state visit to China.

The presidential plane carrying Marcos and the entire delegation landed at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

In his arrival speech, Marcos said that he had “cordial and fruitful engagements” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials.

The President said they had a comprehensive discussion on the overall state of bilateral relations between the Philippines and China.

They discussed important aspects of bilateral relations, including agriculture, energy, infrastructure, trade and investment, science and technology, and people-to-people ties, according to him.

“As we embark on a new chapter of our bilateral ties, President Xi and I shared the commitment to do everything possible to ensure that the Philippines and China will continue the positive trajectory of our relations, which have been elevated to that of Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation since 2018,” he said.

14 agreements signed 

Marcos said they signed 14 agreements to “broaden and deepen ties” in the sectors of agriculture, infrastructure, development cooperation, maritime security, and tourism, among others.

“We likewise ventured into new areas of cooperation, such as e-commerce, digital cooperation. These agreements reflect our common priorities as well as practical ways of pursuing bilateral cooperation in an ever-increasing range of areas,” he said.

Marcos said China is also willing to import quality agricultural produce from the Philippines. 

“We signed the agreement on the 4th of January and the agreement between the Philippines and China as to the rules and regulations to make possible the importation of durian, mangosteen, and other specialty rice varieties and other fruits to China to help redress the trade imbalance that we now have,” he said.

West Philippine Sea

Marcos also raised important issues with Xi, including the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea. 

He said they took note of the “growing maturity” of this bilateral relationship, adding that they are “more than willing to cooperate whenever possible, in the pursuit of regional peace and our two countries’ national interest.”

“We agreed that maritime issues between the two countries do not comprise the entirety of our relations, but we acknowledged as well that they remain a significant concern and priority for the Philippines and for the region,” he said.

The President said they agreed to establish direct communication lines to avoid possible “misunderstanding and miscalculation.”

"I therefore welcome the signing of an agreement between our foreign ministries in this regard and [have] directed our agencies to revitalize existing bilateral mechanisms to promote further mutual trust and confidence in each other," he said.

Marcos also invited Xi to visit the Philippines. 

“I do not believe this will be the last visit that we will be making to China and we are anticipating as I continually reiterated an invitation to President Xi and Madame Peng to come to the Philippines and visit with us on perhaps a state visit, on official visit in the future,” he said.

Investment pledges

Marcos said the Philippines secured around $22 billion worth of investment pledges during the state visit.

“The various Chinese companies participating in these meetings presented their investment plans in the Philippines, totaling USD 22.8 billion, and trade purchase intentions of close to USD 2.1 billion,” he said.

“When realized, these investments will support our country’s economic recovery efforts and create more jobs for Filipinos within our country,” he added.

He then thanked the Filipino community in China for their continued support despite not having a meeting with them.

“It was unfortunate, however, that it was not possible to hold a meeting with our countrymen in China, seeing as the COVID protocols are still in place. But nonetheless, we are still reaching out to them and thanking them once again for their support,” he said. — Anna Felicia Bajo and Richa Noriega/RSJ/VBL, GMA Integrated News