Beijing party chief to visit RP

MANILA, Philippines - The secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Beijing Municipal Committee will make a two-day goodwill visit to the Philippines next week, the Chinese embassy in Manila said yesterday.

Embassy spokesman Sun Yi said Liu Qi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, will arrive on Tuesday.

During his visit, Liu will have meetings with President Arroyo, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Prospero Nograles and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.

“The visit spearheads another round of high-level exchanges between China and the Philippines and it will surely give a boost to a stronger China-Philippine relationship,” the embassy said.

Liu, a native of Wujin, eastern Jiangsu province, was re-elected secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee in 2007. – Pia Lee-Brago