China foreign minister to visit Philippines mid-January

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will make a two-day official visit to the Philippines starting Friday upon the invitation of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced.

Wang’s visit from Jan. 15 to 16 reciprocates Locsin’s visit to China in October last year.

The DFA said Locsin and his Chinese counterpart are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting to consider ways to accelerate mutually beneficial cooperation, particularly in the priority areas of trade and investments, infrastructure development and addressing the pandemic.

Together with their virtual meeting in July last year, the DFA said the state councilor’s visit attests to the sustained high-level engagement of the two countries.

“It also symbolizes the determination and steady progress of both sides toward gradually reopening their societies and economies,” the DFA said in a statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Sunday that Wang will also pay official visits to Myanmar, Indonesia and Brunei this week.

Locsin made an official visit to China on Oct. 9 -11 upon the invitation of Wang. He received Locsin and his entourage in Tengchong City, in the southern province of Yunnan.

During a meeting, Wang conveyed to Locsin that the Philippines and China must stay “permanent” friends regardless of any changes in the international situation and “shelve” the South China Sea dispute.

Wang told Locsin that China will continue to support the Philippines in its fight against the pandemic until the final victory, as well as providing any necessary anti COVID-19 resources and sharing experience in fighting the pandemic.

Malacañang announced yesterday that the Philippines has secured 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Chinese drug maker Sinovac, the first batch of which will arrive in the country next month.