Ambassador Zhao Jianhua also played down reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping may skip the annual APEC summit to be hosted by Manila in November because of the conflicts. He said no decision has been reached because the Philippine government only sent its invitation recently.
“Despite the difficulties we have, I think last year bilateral trade grew 17.6 per cent and our trade stands at over USD 44 billion,” Zhao told reporters after speaking in a Manila business forum, where he highlighted how trade and investment between the Asian neighbors could still expand considerably.
“From these figures, you can see that our bilateral relationship is quite strong ... so that gives us hope for a better relationship,” Zhao said.
While China is a large Philippine trading partner, the trade volume has lagged far behind Beijing’s trade and investment in other Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Zhao reiterated China’s offer for both countries to settle their differences through one-on-one negotiation and not through international arbitration.
“Come back to bilateral talks,” he said when asked what can mend the relations between Manila and Beijing. “It seems that China and the Philippines have different approaches but our preference is peaceful negotiation directly between the two countries.”
A Philippine complaint challenging the validity of China’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea is pending before an international tribunal in The Hague.