Aquino visits China to seek investments

MANILA, Philippines— The Philippines and China will put their disagreements over overlapping claims to South China Sea islands on the back burner as the Philippine president was to begin a weeklong visit Tuesday aiming to sharply increase trade with Beijing.

President Benigno Aquino III is leading a delegation of almost 300 business leaders on a trip during which the Philippines and China are expected to agree on a five-year economic development plan seeking to boost two-way trade six-fold, to about $60 billion.

Most of it will be Chinese investments in manufacturing, railways, shipyards, mining and tourism as the Philippine economy continues to grow and Aquino’s government seeks funds to increase spending on social services to reduce poverty, his main election promise.

A third of the Philippine population of 94 million live on a $2 or less a day, and the country’s economy largely relies on remittances from overseas Filipino workers — about 10 percent of the populace.

China is lagging behind the US and Japan as the Philippines’ third-largest trade partner.

Beijing’s attempts in the last decade to establish a more powerful economic and political presence in the former American colony floundered as Aquino’s predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, staggered in a series of corruption scandals over allegedly overpriced projects involving Chinese companies.

Under public pressure, Arroyo in 2007 canceled a flagship $330 million Philippine government deal with China’s ZTE Corp. to set up a nationwide broadband network. Her husband and a former elections chief have denied accusations of receiving kickbacks and ZTE of bribing any officials.

Aquino’s government is also reviewing a Chinese-sponsored railway project that was initially worth $503 million, but the cost reportedly ballooned to some $2 billion.

But the biggest irritant in the relations is the spat over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where the Philippines has embarked on oil and gas exploration in what Beijing considers its territory. Early this year, Manila accused China of harassing its oil survey ship, and Beijing said that recent construction work by Philippine troops on an island claimed by Manila violates the spirit of a preliminary agreement reached last month with other Southeast Asian nations.

Aquino said ahead of the visit that both countries want to resolve the dispute peacefully.

“It is said that there are couples who have been together for 50 years and they are still getting to know each other,” he told Chinese media last week. “So perhaps the conflicts provide an opportunity also to have the test that makes for a stronger relationship.”