Foreign Minister Wang Yi will make an official visit to the Philippines from January 15 to 16, 2020.

Yi’s visit reciprocates the visit of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. to China in October 2020. It was Locsin who invited Yi to make an official visit the Philippines this January.

“Together with their virtual meeting in July last year, the State Councilor’s visit attests to the sustained high-level engagement of the two countries,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“It also symbolizes the determination and steady progress of both sides toward gradually re-opening their societies and economies,” it added.

Locsin and his Chinese counterpart are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting to consider ways to accelerate mutually beneficial cooperation, particularly in the priority areas of trade and investments, infrastructure development and addressing the pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019.

China remains one of the major export markets of the Philippines. In 2018, the Philippines exported $18.4 billion worth of products to China, and $19.5 billion in 2019. The Philippines exports various products to China from fresh agricultural products to finished industrial goods.

However, the visit of Yi to the Philippines comes at time when tensions at the South China Sea over disputed islands remain unresolved. CURRENTPH