Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has conducted a formal and friendly visit to the Philippines after attending East Asian cooperation meetings. This was an important visit aiming at strengthening friendship and deepening the strategic and cooperative relations devoting to peace and development.

Since the two countries established their diplomatic relations 31 years ago, China and the Philippines have enjoyed a relatively smooth relationship. Bilateral political trust has been improved and cooperation in various fields has achieved obvious results. High level visits have been quite regular. In 1996, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the Philippines and the two sides agreed to establish good-neighborly, trustworthy and cooperative relations towards the 21st century. In April 2005, President Hu Jintao visited the Philippines and the two sides issued a joint statement confirming to establish strategic and cooperative relations devoting to peace and development.

In recent years, bilateral trade has developed rapidly. In 2005, bilateral trade volume reached 17.56 billion US dollar, 31.7% more than the previous year. In June 2006, the first Sino-Philippine Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum was held in Manila. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing economic cooperation partnership. The two countries have also seen obvious progress in agricultural, infrastructure and mining cooperation. In addition, Sino-Philippine cooperation and exchange in culture, science and technology, judicial and tourism have also been deepened. As the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said, Sino-Philippine relation is in its golden period of development.

Political trust is an important basis for bilateral relations. Maintaining peace and common development is the strategic direction for the development of Sino-Philippine relations while mutually beneficial cooperation becomes the engine driving the development of bilateral relations. In recent years, with the deepening of relations between China and ASEAN countries, China and the Philippines have seen great progress in bilateral economic and trade cooperation. After its entry of the WTO, China has made more efforts to establish free trade zones with ASEAN countries, thus, there are new opportunities for Sino-Philippine cooperation. The two sides can have more cooperation in urban infrastructure construction, agriculture, fishery and tourism. The Philippines has rich resources in mineral, fisheries and tropical fruits. For Chinese enterprises who like to invest abroad, the Philippines is no doubt an attractive area for investment. With the establishment of Sino-Philippine economic and trade cooperation partnership, bilateral trade and investment will increase to a new level.

During Premier Wen Jiabao's visit, both sides will sign a series of cooperative agreements in trade, infrastructure construction and cultural relics protection to pave the way for further cooperation.

Of course, China and the Philippines have also had some disputes in the process of developing bilateral relations. In 2002, China and ASEAN countries signed a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in South China Sea.

In November 2004, China and the Philippines signed an agreement on jointly exploring oil and natural gas resources in disputed areas. In March 2005, China, the Philippines and Vietnam signed a agreement on jointly conducting marine earthquake exploring work on the agreed South China Sea area. This has become a historic step towards developing the South China Sea area. South China Sea is hopeful to become 'a sea of friendship' and 'a sea of cooperation'.

As an old Chinese saying goes, if you really understand each other, geographical distance is not an issue. China has implemented a foreign policy aiming at establishing good neighborly relations with the neighboring countries by taking them as partners and making them feel safe and rich. This policy has helped improve its relations with all the bordering countries. It's believed that the development of good friendly relations between China and ASEAN countries including the Philippines will surely play a positive role in guaranteeing East Asia's peace and stability.

By People's Daily Online