Duterte’s latest visit to China will look to accelerate cooperation on infrastructure

As Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte embarks on his fifth visit to China, analysts expect the countries will speed up their cooperation, especially on infrastructure development.

China remains a crucial source of funding for the Philippines’ flagship infrastructure projects, a key component in the Southeast Asian nation’s thrust to become an upper-middle-income economy by 2022.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo Montealegre said in a news conference that Duterte will be discussing with Chinese leaders “how to accelerate the pace of our functional cooperation in terms of concrete projects” during his visit from Wednesday to Sunday. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the Philippines is “China’s friendly neighbor and important partner for the Belt and Road Initiative”.

According to the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority, China has committed to finance 12 of the 37 approved infrastructure projects included in “Build, Build, Build” – Duterte’s centerpiece economic program. Three of these projects are now under construction – the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, both in Manila, and the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project in northern Philippines. China has extended more than $120 million worth of loans and grants for these three projects. Read more…