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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Marcos arrives in Beijing gripped by Covid-19 resurgence

Marcos arrives in Beijing gripped by Covid-19 resurgence

Published Jan 3, 2023 08:16 pm

BEIJING, China—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. begins his "very important trip" here after arriving in the city on Tuesday night.

Marcos stepped foot in Beijing onboard PR001 at exactly 6:10 p.m. on Jan. 3.

He is the first head of state to visit China since the latter closed its doors due to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in 2022. He is also the first President to visit China this year.

The President will officially start his state visit here on Wednesday with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and several Chinese officials.

He pushed through with the trip despite the Covid-19 situation in the country as he labeled it "very important" given that China is the Philippines' largest trade partner.

"China is our largest trading partner, a major source of official development assistance, and before the pandemic, the second largest source of tourist arrivals," Marcos said before departing the Philippines.

He said that his trip to Beijing will lead to the opening of a "new chapter" in the two nations' Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation.

"We will seek to foster meaningful relations and broaden our cooperation in various areas such as agriculture, energy, infrastructure, science and technology, trade and investment, and people-to-people exchanges, amongst others," the President said.

Among the major agenda of the chief executive in his state visit is to bring up the discussion of oil and gas exploration between China and the Philippines.

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