Copy Reference When China and the Philippines established diplomatic relations 45 years ago, a new day dawned for their bilateral relations. Friendship between China and the Philippines has a long history, and exchanges between the two countries can be traced back to the 7th Century. In 1417, three kings of Sulu, in what is now the southern Philippines, led a delegation of 340 members to visit China for a tribute mission. It was an important example of early exchanges between China and the Philippines and longstanding friendship between the two peoples.
In the modern era, the two countries have maintained frequent high-level visits ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1975. Cooperation between China and the Philippines in important fields such as politics, economics and culture has achieved remarkable results. Although bilateral relations have experienced some ups and downs, pragmatic cooperation and mutual benefits have always been the overriding trend of development of China-Philippines relations.
Better Bilateral Relations
In recent years, China-Philippines relations have enjoyed a historic upgrading and consolidation and entered a golden era. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Philippines upon an invitation from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018, the leaders of the two countries designed a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations and advocated a big leap forward in Sino-Philippine relations, which was tremendously significant in consolidating and enhancing bilateral relations. The leaders reached an important consensus on properly handling the South China Sea issue through dialogue and consultation, agreed to manage their differences on the sea, and decided to actively explore maritime cooperation.
In terms of economic cooperation, Philippine companies and capital have remained actively involved in economic activities in China since China adopted reform and opening-up policies, which has promoted the continuous deepening of China-Philippines economic and trade relations. Bilateral trade volume surged from US$76 million in 1975 to US$410 million in 1985.
Since the 1990s, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has skyrocketed. Even during the 1997 financial crisis, Sino-Philippine trade maintained solid momentum. Since 2017, China has been the Philippines’ largest trading partner, largest source of imports and the third largest export destination.
In recent years, pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in various fields has progressed comprehensively. The Philippines is a “natural partner” in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, which aligns closely with the Philippines’ “Build, Build, Build” development program and “AmBisyon Natin 2040”. The two sides are now working to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in economics, trade, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and other fields to ensure the two peoples benefit from joint livelihood projects.
Since the turn of the 21st Century, China and the Philippines have continued to support and help each other. When the Philippines was struck by typhoons, China repeatedly shipped relief supplies and dispatched personnel to participate in disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction.
In early 2020, China and the Philippines stood together to fight the novel coronavirus. After the epidemic broke out in China, various supplies were shipped to China from the Philippines, and “Pray for China” was a frequent trending topic on social media in the Philippines.
On March 15, when the coronavirus started becoming a global pandemic, China provided the Philippines with 2,000 COVID-19 test kits to support the country in its fight. China has also maintained close communication with the Philippine Department of Health to share experience in dealing with the epidemic and provide medical treatment plans and travel prevention and control guidelines to help the Philippines fight COVID-19.
Pragmatic Cooperation
The years from 2012 to 2016 saw frictions between China and the Philippines. After President Duterte took office in 2016, relations between the two countries improved. Over the past four years, the two heads of state have met frequently to nurture the rapid improvement of bilateral relations. Areas of cooperation between the two countries have also gradually expanded from politics to livelihood as the surge of vitality in people-to-people exchange inspired the term “Philippine Model,” which refers to shelving disputes in favor of cooperation targeting actual conditions. Political cooperation drives people-to-people exchange, and people-to-people exchange builds bridges of communication facilitating the development of bilateral relations.
In November 2018, China and the Philippines established a platform for direct conversion between RMB and peso in some banks, ending a history of China-Philippines business transactions being priced first using the US dollar rate.
In 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to the Philippines exceeded 1.7 million, and the Chinese mainland became the Philippines’ second largest source of foreign tourists.
In December 2019, the Philippine Department of Education and China’s Confucius Institute Headquarters signed an agreement to jointly train 300 Filipino Chinese-language teachers to serve public schools through a master of arts program over the coming five years. The agreement will open a door for more Filipinos to understand Chinese culture.
Michelle Wang in the Philippines spearheaded the establishment of a social welfare organization composed of foreign volunteers. The organization raised a donation of US$1.5 million to help poor families with children with congenital heart disease living in remote areas such as Guizhou Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. The effort enabled 256 children to receive surgery, all of which were successful.
In July 2018, Abear Wilbert, a Filipino engineer, died of illness in Taizhou, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. He had designated his kidneys, heart and liver for donation, which were transplanted into six Chinese patients.
Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping, known as the “Father of Hybrid Rice,” developed several varieties of hybrid rice for the soil and climate conditions of Southeast Asian countries. In April 1979, Yuan took his first trip abroad to the Philippines to attend an academic conference organized by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Since then, he has visited the IRRI more than 30 times to help the Philippines increase its rice yield. Thanks to the joint efforts of Chinese and Philippine agricultural experts, the Philippines’ grain output has steadily increased, and further seeds of China-Philippine friendship were sown in the hearts of the Filipino people.
Despite twists and turns, the overall development trend of Sino-Philippine friendship has seldom changed. The establishment of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries laid the foundation for cooperation that will benefit residents of both countries. China and the Philippines are engaging in extensive cooperation in infrastructure construction, tapping natural resources, fighting terrorism, security and other fields, with prospects becoming even more promising.
About the author Wu Jiewei is a professor at School of Foreign Languages, Peking University.
Wu Jiewei
Chinese navy hospital ship “Peace Ark” participated in a rescue operation for people in Tacloban, the capital of Leyte Province, Philippines, from November 24 to December 10, 2013. In this photo, a helicopter transports the wounded.
On June 27, 2019, the completion and handover ceremony of a charity project to increase access to electricity sponsored by China’s State Grid Corporation is held at Baliwet Primary School in San Marcelino, Philippines.