Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beijing (Fides Service) - In keeping with tradition for a newly elected president to visit neighbouring countries at the start of the mandate, on September 2 President Gloria Arroyo, elected in May, started an official three day visit to China by signing cooperation agreements on tourism, energy, fishing, trade and investments during a meeting with Chinese leader Hu Jintao.
After the meeting Ms Arroyo said the volume of trade exchange would rise from about 9 million US dollars in 2003 to about 14 million dollars in 2004 and hoped to reach 20 million dollars in five years time.
A 400 million dollar agreement was reached with Chinese construction companies to build a ring road around the Philippines’ capital, a project to be completed by 2008, to reduce Manila’s traffic. A major agreement stipulated for tourism includes facilitating granting and lowing the cost of entry permits, a factor which is bound to increase the flow of Chinese tourists to the Philippines.
A priority of the meeting was the joint intention to transform the South China Sea, hitherto an area of conflict, into an area of cooperation in the context of bilateral and multilateral relations. Besides reaching agreements for pre-exploration of the seabed for oil and for the regulation of fishing in the zone, the two countries say they are willing to end the dispute over the Spratly Islands, claimed partly or totally by six different countries, China, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Another agreement was reached with regard preventative measures against SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which hit China and other parts of south east Asia last year. Leading health authorities from the Philippines will visit Guangzhou province to study methods employed by the Chinese government to prevent outbreaks of the virus.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 3/9/2004 lines 34 words 384)
