Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met on Tuesday in Manila with Philippine President of Senate Manny Villar and Speaker of the House of Representatives Jose De Venecia respectively and exchanged views on enhancing bilateral ties.

Wen said China and the Philippines are friendly neighbors and cooperative partners. Both sides should look at and address bilateral ties from the strategic perspective. The establishment of bilateral strategic relations aimed at peace and development is both the requirement of the times and the common aspirations of the two peoples, he added.

Wen said that the Chinese government will firmly pursue a policy of "building good-neighborly relations and partnership with its neighbors," enhance mutual trust and cooperation with the Philippines, and push forward for the development of bilateral ties.

The Chinese premier said his current visit to the Philippines is fruitful. He has reached new consensus with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation.

"We agreed to speed up the drafting of the common action of plan on bilateral strategic cooperation, so as to better guiding bilateral long-term cooperation," he added.

The relevant government departments of both countries have signed a series of cooperative documents, which will surely push bilateral cooperation in various areas to a new level, he added.

Wen said that, the exchanges and contacts between the two parliaments are an important part of Sino-Philippine ties, which are playing an important role in enhancing mutual understanding and bilateral cooperation.

"China attaches importance to further strengthen friendly exchanges and cooperation with both the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, and is willing to make more contributions to pushing forward the development of bilateral ties," he added.

During the meetings, the two Philippine parliament leaders held the view that the development of bilateral ties has shown "encouraging" signs and the two countries have maintained sound cooperation in many areas. Both countries witnessed closer contacts among their political parties and parliaments.

The Chinese premier's current visit will inject new vitality to bilateral ties, they said, adding that the Philippine parliament will continue to firmly support the development of bilateral relations.

Wen Jiabao also attended a seminar on bilateral agricultural cooperation on the same day.

The Chinese premier arrived in Manila on Monday for an official visit to the country. Before he flew to Manila, Wen attended the 10th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the 10th ASEAN-China Summit, the 2nd East Asia Summit and the Seventh Leaders' Meeting of China, Japan and South Korea in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines. He left for China later on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua