Besides deepening its bilateral relations, China has also vowed to intensify its development assistance to the Philippines through its so-called Belt and Road Initiative.
In his keynote speech before the gathering of the administration Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan in Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila on Thursday, Meng Xiangfeng, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of China and executive deputy secretary of the Working Committee for Organs under the CPC central committee, made the assurance that China will continue to provide assistance to the Philippines and other developing countries to achieve modernization, by “offering a new option . . . (and) to speed up their development while preserving their independence.”
“As a Philippine proverb goes, seize today and you will not lose tomorrow. China is willing to work with the Philippines to seize the day and press on. We will carry forward the Silk Road Spirit featuring peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win to further deepen China-Philippines friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. Jointly, we will create a better future for China-Philippines cooperation,” Meng told PDP-Laban officials and members led by Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who is the party president.
The CPC official also said that China will not meddle in the country’s affairs or impose its will while working hand-in-hand with the Philippine government in implementing various infrastructure projects under the auspices of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Since its introduction in 2013, China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative has been translated from an idea into action, becoming the world’s largest platform for international cooperation.
The Belt and Road initiative was officially launched in 2013 when President Xi called for the creation of a “Silk Road Economic Belt” and later expanded to include the so-called 21st Maritime Silk Road. Under the initiative, China aims to boost trade and stimulate economic growth across Asia and beyond, by building massive amounts of infrastructure connecting it to countries around the globe. China plans to pump $150 billion annually to bankroll various infrastructure projects along the ancient Silk Road route.
Meng admitted that problems and challenges, even mistrust and misunderstanding, are bound to arise in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.
“The Belt and Road Initiative, though being a Chinese creation, is not a solo performed by China alone, rather, it is a symphony played by all parties involved. Every country is an equal participant, contributor and beneficiary of this important global public good,” he said.
“In promoting this initiative, China will share its development experience with the world without reservation; China will not interfere in other’s internal affairs; will not export its social system and development model; will not impose its own will on others,” Meng added.
From 2014 to 2016, total trade between China and countries along the Belt and Road as surpassed 3 trillion US dollars, and China’s accumulative investment in these countries surpassed 50 billion US dollars, helping create 180,000 jobs in these countries.
“Chinese and Philippines economies are highly complementary. There is great potential in China-Philippines cooperation. We are very happy to see that, in the past year, led and promoted high-level exchanges between the two countries, the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the Philippines has been accelerating, generating a number of important outcomes,” he said.
“Major progress has been made in the first batch of infrastructure projects; the second batch is well under way,” Meng noted.
He also cited that from January to November last year, China imported 13,000 batches of tropical fruits from the Philippines; 14 air routes were added between the two countries, while over a million Chinese people visited the Philippines as tourists.
“From January to October (in 2017), bilateral trade reached 41.5 billion US dollar, an increase of 8.2 %, making China the largest trading partner of the Philippines,” Meng said.
Meng, along with other CPC officials, visited the country upon the invitation of PDP-Laban chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte himself.
Meng gave the PDP-Laban members a thematic briefing on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last October in Beijing, as part of its bilateral and party-to-party relations with PDP-Laban where he highlighted the latest updates in China and of the CPC since the party congress.