Philippines trade mission to China

Philippine President Benigno Aquino will visit China this month in an effort to deepen trade and tourism ties despite an increasingly bitter row over rival claims to the South China Sea, officials said Thursday.

Aquino will lead a delegation of top economic officials and hundreds of businessmen to China for the trip, from 30 August to 3 September, during which he will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, they said.

Tourism is high on the agenda along with trade, educational and cultural relations, with a particular focus on attracting Chinese investment to the Philippines, foreign affairs department spokesman Raul Hernandez said.

“The visit is expected to raise the level of Philippines-China bilateral relations to its highest level,” Hernandez said.

Bilateral trade is already surging, hitting US$10.35 billion last year, a 54% rise from 2009, according to the Philippine government.

Hernandez and other senior government officials refused to comment directly on the tensions between the two nations that have escalated this year over conflicting claims to areas of the potentially resource-rich South China Sea.

Source - ttrweekly