Photo and video courtesy of Office of the Press Secretary
BANGKOK, Thailand — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed regional issues, boosting bilateral ties, and the former’s plans for his state visit to China.
Marcos and Xi met for the first time at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand on the sidelines of the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit on Thursday.
“We spoke a little bit about regional issues, but mostly about the plans that I have for the state visit that I will be undertaking to China in [the] first week of January,” he said in a video statement.
“Whatever details [that] need to be taken up between the Philippines and China will be taken up there,” he added.
According to the Office of the Press Secretary, Marcos and Xi talked about strengthening and expanding their ties, especially in agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and people-to-people connections.
Marcos was overjoyed in meeting his Chinese counterpart.
“It’s the first time that I’ve met President Xi Jinping and I was very happy that we were able to have this opportunity here in the Apec Meeting in Bangkok to have a bilateral meeting,” he said.
“The bilateral meetings are really just a kind of getting-to-know-you and that was the same with our meeting,” the president continued.
Marcos further shared that Xi was “very surprised” to see his old friend, former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who joined the Philippine chief executive at the meeting.
Earlier, Marcos said that he will bring up the West Philippine Sea dispute if he meets Xi. However, it was not disclosed whether the issue has been discussed.
The Philippine leader has been pushing to make the South China Sea a “sea of peace, security, stability, and prosperity.”