CRI听力:Philippine President to pay five-day visit to China

The President of the Philippines is scheduled to travel to China later this week.

Ahead of his arrival, CRI's Guanghao took a look at what could be on Rodrigo Duterte's agenda during the visit.

President Duterte's trip to China this week will be his fifth since he took office in 2016.

He is expected to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday.

During the visit, he is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He will also be accompanied by Vice President Wang Qinshan to some of the FIBA Basketball World Cup games being hosted by China.

China's former ambassador to the Philippines, Wang Chungui says Duterte's visit will further boost bilateral relations between the two countries.

"President Xi Jinping has met with President Duterte many times in recent years, setting a new direction for bilateral relations and cooperation. China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Philippines' "Build, Build, Build" program are well coordinated. I think this visit will help to implement cooperation programs in areas such as trade and economic cooperation, and also people-to-people exchanges. They may also exchange views on some global and regional issues, such as the China-U.S. trade dispute."

Last year, China emerged as the largest source of foreign direct investment into the Philippines.

Meantime, exports from the country to China topped 18 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.1 percent year-on-year.

Wang Chungui expects the growing trend of closer economic cooperation to continue.

"You know, bilateral relations between China and the Philippines have been back on track for years; it is very important. I think, with the implementation of the consensus reached between the two heads of state, China's investment in the Philippines will continue to grow, and investment will be made based on need in areas like railways, harbors, and airports, which require a huge amount of money."

Media reports in the Philippines suggest that one of the topics on the agenda for discussion in Beijing will be oil exploration in the South China Sea.

Zhang Xuegang is an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

He says cooperation in this field would benefit both countries.

"Since President Duterte came into office, our cooperation in the South China Sea keeps moving forward and lead to substantial achievements. A bilateral consultation mechanism has been set since 2017 and four rounds of discussions have been held so far. During President Xi Jinping's visit to the Philippines last year, a memorandum of understanding on oil exploration was signed. Both sides agreed that our cooperation will be mutually beneficial and will help safeguard regional peace and stability."

He also stresses the role the Philippines could play in pushing forward the talks between China and ASEAN countries to finalize a code of conduct for the South China Sea.

"As the current country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, the Philippines have been committed to promoting the consultations between China and ASEAN countries on code of conduct in the South China Sea in recent years. The process is going smoothly as expected. We are confident that with our concerted efforts, a final agreement will be reached in the future."

China has expressed its hope that the talks will bear fruits by 2021.

So far, the two sides have finished the first reading of the single draft negotiating text of the code.