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Saturday, October 28, 2017
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MANILA – The Chinese Embassy confirmed that President Xi Jinping will not be attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings in November and will instead be represented by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
“President Xi would be in Danang, Vietnam for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation),” explained Embassy Counselor Ethan Sun when asked if there would be a bilateral meeting with President Xi and President Rodrigo Duterte during the event.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin won’t be attending the ASEAN Summit, too, and would instead appear at the APEC event in Vietnam.
At the China-Philippines Dialogue 2017 in Makati City on Thursday, however, Sun assured Filipinos that China and the Philippines were enjoying growing political mutual trust and frequent exchange of high-level visits.
“In about two weeks, we might be expecting Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China to pay an official visit to the Philippines, first of this kind by a Chinese Premier in 10 years,” said Sun.
Ambassador Marciano Paynor earlier announced that 21 heads of states and governments, including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will participate in the ASEAN Summit.
On the Special Gala Celebration of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, United States President Donald Trump was confirmed to attend.
While President Xi won’t be visiting Manila yet during the summit, Sun said the two nations continue to pursue improved bilateral relations.
“China is now the largest trading partner, largest import market and fourth largest export destination of the Philippines,” he said.
Citing China’s statistics, he said the bilateral trade volume between the two hit $28 billion in the first seven months of 2017, representing a 7.6 percent year-on-year increase.
Furthermore, China’s Foreign Direct Investment to the Philippines in the first seven months of 2017 registered $20 million.
“I am pretty sure that more will come in the following years,” said Sun.
From January to July 2017, the embassy counselor said, around 550,000 Chinese tourists already visited the Philippines as “China stands out as the second largest tourist source country” to the Philippines.
Sun is optimistic that as the two states forge stronger ties, fulfilling the target of one million Chinese tourist arrivals in the Philippines by the end of this year won’t be far-fetched. (PNA)
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