Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario is scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during his two-day official visit to China from July 7 to 8.
Aside from being the vice president, Xi also currently serves as the top-ranking member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, principal of the Central Party School and the 6th ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s de facto top power organ.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Secretary Del Rosario said he “expects to discuss the West Philippine Sea issue although this particular issue in not the sum total of Philippines’ relations with China.”
Aside from Vice Presiden Xi, Del Rosario will also be meeting with his counterpart Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Del Rosario’s visit to China is intended to advance bilateral relations.
During his visit to China, he is expected to talk about a wide range of topics including trade, investment, culture, tourism, defense cooperation, education, science and technology, people-to-people relations and cooperation against transnational crimes.
“Over the past 36 years of diplomatic relations, the Philippines and China have signed over 100 agreements and Secretary del Rosario will be discussing ways to move these forward during his visit,” the DFA said.
Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation