PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte vowed to cooperate and to remain a good friend of China during his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Lima, Peru.
A Palace statement said the meeting of the two leaders was to follow through the memoranda of understanding (MOU) signed by the Philippines and China during Duterte's state visit to Beijing in October.
Duterte told Xi that while his visit to Beijing was short, "it has produced a lot of goodwill in my country and we hope to remain a good friend of China."
"And as I have given you my word, we will cooperate with you and I said, with my thrust of an independent foreign policy, we will find ourselves mutually agreeing in so many things and align our foreign policy towards the development of Asia, strengthening of ties among the countries in the region, with China leading the way in the economic development."
Duterte again reiterated his invitation to Xi to visit the Philippines at a mutually agreeable date.
A Malacañang statement said Xi accepted the invitation to visit Manila.
Meanwhile, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said that the two countries can now fast track trade and economic relations with vigorous talks currently underway.
“I am very happy to report that we are on track on this one and we will be pushing for more vigorous talks for the purpose of implementation the broad strokes that we have arrived at when we signed these MOUs,” said Yasay, who accompanied the President in Peru.
Duterte and Xi also touched on the plight of Filipino fishermen in Scarborough Shoal, a Palace statement said.
The Chinese leader assured that the fishermen will continue to have free access to their traditional fishing grounds apart from offering them training such as fish culture to sustain the fishermen’s livelihood and families.
The two leaders also discussed issues on agricultural sector and the beefing up of China’s imports of agricultural products.
They also talked about the lifting of the travel ban of Chinese tourists to the Philippines, and China’s hosting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Conference where Xi invited the Philippines as a participant.(SDR/Sunnex)