Staff members transport a cargo shipment of China-made Sinovac vaccines in Manila, the Philippines on November 17, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and the Philippines has yielded fruitful results with ministers of trade and commerce from both countries hoping to take economic and trade relations to a new level.

China is the largest trading partner of the Philippines and bilateral investment cooperation is booming with major projects being implemented smoothly, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said during a video conference with his counterparts from the Philippines on Tuesday. 

Wang noted that China welcomes the Philippines' exports of agricultural products to China, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with the Philippines on issues on industrial supply chains, green trade, e-commerce, vaccines and anti-epidemic cooperation, in addition to regional economic integration.

Ramon Lopez, the Secretary of Trade and Industry of Philippines, said the Philippines attached great importance to bilateral economic and trade relations.

He said that the Philippines was grateful to China for its help to fight against the pandemic and hoped that the two countries can strengthen bilateral cooperation in vaccine production, infrastructure projects, digital and green economy.

The export of Philippine agricultural products to China has increased rapidly, and it is hoped that China will continue to facilitate market access for Philippine agricultural products, he added.

In the first 10 months the bilateral trade between China and the hit $66.22 billion, up 37.4 percent from the same time last year, according to data from Chinese Customs.

Lopez said that the Philippines is accelerating the approval of the RCEP agreement and is willing to work with China to promote the construction of an ASEAN-China Free Trade Area.

Commenting on South China Sea, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday that China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea are supported by solid historical and jurisprudential facts. 

"The so-called South China Sea arbitration and its ruling are illegal, null and void. All attempts at challenging China's sovereignty and interests are doomed to fail. The relevant sea areas in the South China Sea are in general tranquil. China and the Philippines are maintaining close communication," he said.