President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is set to strengthen the Philippines and China's "durian diplomacy" during his state visit to the Asian neighbor at the start of 2023.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Neal Imperial said the government is expecting to finalize an agreement with China on its increased importation of durian.
"The Chinese market has a voracious appetite for durian, so we expect a lot of interest in our durian exports," Imperial told reporters at a pre-departure briefing on Thursday.
The diplomat also said that Chinese business leaders might discuss with Marcos and his delegation about possible investments in the durian sector in producing regions in Mindanao.
That was only one of the business deals expected to be signed during Marcos' state visit to China and meeting with his counterpart, Xi Jinping, from January 3 to 5.
"So we can call that durian diplomacy," he said in jest.
In September, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said the country would be exporting durian to China as part of the two countries' agricultural cooperation.
He made the announcement as he described the economic cooperation between the Philippines and China as "fruitful."
This came when just in the first seven months of 2022 alone, the bilateral trade of the two countries increased by 12.4 percent compared to the previous years after reaching US$50.03 billion.