Trivia about the Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations

Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations

The Philippines and the People’s Republic of China signed on 09 June 1975 the Joint Communique establishing diplomatic relations between them. Since then, relations between the two countries have evolved into one of the most important bilateral ties the Philippines has forged. The past twenty-five years bear witness to the increasing vibrancy of these relations.

Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations

Throughout the twenty-five years, the Philippines and China have exchanged high-level visits such as the State Visits to China of Philippine Presidents Ferdinand E. Marcos, Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Similarly, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Premiers Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, and Zhu Rongji visited the Philippines. These exchanges illustrate the significant strides already taken in the relationship between the two countries, a relationship firmly guided by the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and equality.

Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations

The Philippines-China cultural, scientific and technological relations have equally flourished. This year marks the implementation of the 11th Executive Program implementing the Philippines-China Cultural Agreement signed on 8 July 1979 and the 12th Protocol of the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed on 14 March 1978. Both agreements focus on exchanges on the official and people-to-people levels where both sides learn from the experiences of each other.

Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations

In the field of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, trade between the Philippines and China has surpassed the US $2 billion mark in 1998. China is the Philippines’ 11th largest trading partner. On 13 September 1999, the Agreement on Agricultural Cooperation was signed, another milestone in the effort to further enhance Philippines-China relations.

In the twenty-five years of Philippines-China relations, eleven (11) agreements have been signed between the two countries in areas such as: trade, investment, science and technology, education and culture, agriculture, civil aviation, and taxation. More agreements are to be signed in the fields of narcotics and transnational crimes, judicial cooperation, and tourism.

The increasing official and people-to-people contacts between the two countries augur well for warmer and more fruitful cooperation in the new millennium.

Stamps featuring the Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations

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