Full Text: Joint Statement of China and the Philippines (1)

The following is a joint statement released by China and the Philippines on Friday:

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Beijing, 21 October 2016

1. At the invitation of H.E. President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China, H.E. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte of the Republic of the Philippines undertook a state visit to China from 18 to 21 October 2016.

2. During the visit, President Xi Jinping and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte had a fruitful meeting in an amicable and friendly atmosphere and conducted in-depth exchanges on bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of shared interest. H.E. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council, and H.E. Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, met with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. H.E. Zhang Gaoli, Vice Premier of the State Council, and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte also attended the opening ceremony of China-Philippines Economic and Investment Forum and delivered remarks.

3. Both sides acknowledge the centuries-old bonds of friendship of the two peoples. Both sides agree that the mutual understanding and friendship of the two peoples are important. Both sides will make concerted efforts to cement the traditional friendship of the two peoples.

4. Both sides agree that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China-Philippines relations have enjoyed smooth development and remarkable progress in many areas of cooperation which have benefited both countries and peoples.

5. Both sides commit to further enrich China-Philippines bilateral relations, founded on mutual respect, sincerity, equality and mutual benefit, which is conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity.

6. Both sides reaffirm the principles contained in the China-Philippines Joint Communique of 1975 and other documents, whose principles include, among others, the principle of the peaceful settlement of all disputes and the Philippines' adherence to the One-China Policy.

7. Both sides affirm their partnership and their common aspiration to achieve sustainable development and inclusive growth that will benefit the peoples of both countries. Both sides agree that this is a milestone visit which will infuse new energy to bring tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries. Both sides will work together to pursue the sound and stable development of the strategic and cooperative relationship for peace and development.

8. Both sides acknowledge the great importance of maintaining high-level exchanges in promoting the all-around development of bilateral relations.

9. Both sides welcome the signing during the visit of various agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), as listed in the Annex.

10. Both sides express interest in finalizing agreements and MOUs in such areas as education, finance, customs and sports.

11. Both sides affirm the importance of existing China-Philippines bilateral dialogue mechanisms in enhancing understanding, broadening cooperation and striving for a stronger relationship. Both sides agree to resume the Foreign Ministry Consultations, Consular Consultations, Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation, Annual Defense Security Talks, Joint Committee on Agriculture, Joint Committee on Science and Technology, and other bilateral dialogue mechanisms.

12. Both sides will encourage exchange of visits of high-ranking governmental delegations and leaders at the local level, legislative organs, political parties, and civil organizations, and increase interactions and communications.

13. The Philippines welcomes China's proposal to open a Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Davao in due course. Proper arrangements for the diplomatic premises in both countries will be made in the spirit of the 1975 Joint Communique, on the basis of international practice and reciprocity, with priority for the most immediate concerns.

14. Realizing that coordinated action is necessary to combat transnational crimes, the two countries' relevant agencies, subject to mutually agreed arrangements, will enhance cooperation and communication to combat transnational crimes, including telecommunications fraud, on-line fraud, cybercrimes, drug trafficking, trafficking in persons and wildlife trafficking.

15. Both sides oppose violent extremism and terrorism in all forms and will cooperate in the fields of information exchange, capacity building, among others, in order to jointly prevent and address the threat of violent extremism and terrorism.

16. China understands and supports Philippine Government's efforts in fighting against illicit drugs. Realizing that the problem of illicit drugs poses severe threats to the health, safety and welfare of the peoples of both countries, both sides agree to enhance exchange of intelligence, know-how and technology sharing on fighting against drug crimes, preventive education and rehabilitation facilities.

17. To further strengthen the efforts to fight against illicit drugs, both sides agree to establish operation mechanism for joint investigation on special cases and intelligence collection purposes. The Philippines thanks China for its offer of assistance in personnel training and donation of drug detection, seizure, and testing equipment to aid in the fight against illicit drugs.

18. Both sides commit to enhance cooperation between their respective Coast Guards, to address maritime emergency incidents, as well as humanitarian and environmental concerns in the South China Sea, such as safety of lives and property at sea and the protection and preservation of the marine environment, in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law including the 1982 UNCLOS.

19. Both sides agree to continue discussions with a view to signing a bilateral agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

20. Both sides agree that bilateral defense and military cooperation are important components of bilateral relations. To enhance mutual trust, both sides agree to implement the China-Philippines MOU on Defense Cooperation, through exchanges and cooperation in areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster alleviation and peacekeeping operations.

21. Both sides agree that bilateral economic cooperation remains strong, but has room for growth. Both sides commit to enhance economic relations in the priority sectors of the two countries by leveraging their complementarity and continuously promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation, through the activities identified under the MOU on Strengthening Bilateral Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation.

22. Both sides acknowledge the mutual economic and social benefits gained from the Five Year Development Program for Trade and Economic Cooperation (2011-2016), and announced their commitment to its renewal through the Memorandum of Understanding on the Formulation of the Development Program for Economic Cooperation.

23. Both sides identify poverty alleviation as their shared aspiration, and agree to exchange best practices and cooperate in projects in this regard.

24. Both sides express willingness to jointly undertake practical cooperation including infrastructure investment, infrastructure project construction and industrial production capacity. Both sides agree that infrastructure cooperation which are jointly undertaken will be subject to proper procurement process, transparency and in compliance with relevant domestic laws and regulations and international practices.

25. Both sides will develop financial cooperation including in areas such as concessional loans, preferential buyer's credit, bonds issuance, loans, investments, securities, and others as mutually agreed upon including special loans for development. Both sides will strengthen cooperation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and other multilateral and regional development banks.

26. Both sides express willingness to expand the local currency settlement of bilateral trade and investment, and to coordinate to actively promote the regional financial cooperation which includes the multilateralization of Chiang Mai Initiative (CMIM) and bilateral swap arrangements (BSA). China welcomes the interest of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in participating in the Chinese Interbank Bond Market.

27. Both sides commit to expand cooperation in agriculture, particularly in such areas as (i) agricultural technology and infrastructure;(ii) agricultural trade;(iii) irrigation;(iv) climate change adaption and mitigation and (v) compliance with animal and plant sanitary standards.

28. Both sides agree to strengthen cooperation on animal and plant inspection and quarantine. The Philippines welcomes China's announcement to restore permits of relevant Philippine enterprises that export bananas and pineapples to China, and continue to import vapor heat treated mangoes which were packed in facilities that comply with standards set by China.

29. Both sides will undertake joint efforts to promote cooperation in the fields of high quality hybrid rice seeds, agriculture infrastructure, agricultural machinery, further develop the role of the Sino-Phil Center for Agricultural Technology, and other mutually agreed upon areas. China commits support for the Philippines' effort to improve its food production capacity, training of agricultural technical professionals, and agricultural and fisheries industry development and capacity building, subject to domestic laws.

30. China expresses readiness to support Philippine requests for assistance under the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) in times of emergency. (mo