China and the Philippines Photo: VCG

China stands ready to work with the Philippines to keep bilateral relations on the right track and achieve steady and long-term development, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday during a phone conversation with his Philippine counterpart, Rodrigo Duterte, who praised China as a "friend indeed" and promised not to harm China's interests in geopolitics.

Xi said China attaches great importance to relations with the Philippines, and supports the Philippine side in firmly upholding an independent foreign policy of peace.

Xi said China is ready to deepen friendship and mutual trust with the Philippines, and stay committed to the general direction of good-neighborliness and friendship.

Xi said that China-Philippine relations in the past few years have brought the people of the two countries concrete interests and provided positive energy to regional peace and stability. 

He stressed that winning over the COVID-19 pandemic and realizing economic recovery and growth are urgent tasks for all countries, and China is willing to strengthen anti-virus cooperation with the Philippines and provide necessary support and assistance. 

There have been important achievements in connecting the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Philippines' "Build, Build, Build" program, and China would like to work with the Philippines to push forward more cooperation projects to better benefit the people of the two countries, said Xi.

During the phone conversation, Duterte congratulated the Communist Party of China on its 100th anniversary, saying it is a historical event with great significance, and the extraordinary achievements of the CPC to help more than 800 million Chinese get rid of poverty.

For the past five years, the Philippines and China have ushered in a new era of comprehensive strategic cooperation. Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the friendship between the two countries has stood tests and bilateral economic cooperation has increased, which fully shows that "a friend in need is a friend indeed," Duterte said.

The Philippines welcomes China's investments and expects more achievements on cooperation in infrastructure construction and agriculture. The Philippines cherishes its friendship with China and will not do things in geopolitics that harm China's interests. It is willing to actively promote China's ties with ASEAN countries, Duterte said. 

Duterte also said that the Philippines appreciates China's contributions to the global anti-virus work, thanked China for offering assistance including vaccines to the Philippines, and expressed hope to strengthen anti-virus cooperation.

Global Times