(CHRISTIAN DALE)

INIULAT ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ang mabunga at produktibong bilateral meeting nito kay Chinese President Xi Jinping sa Beijing.

Ang nasabing miting ay nakatuon sa “soft infrastructure, climate change, renewable energy, people-to-people ties at agricultural cooperation na kinabibilangan ng tinatawag na “durian protocol.”

“It has been a very wide-ranging discussion… the meeting ran very long, and that’s why I’m actually very optimistic because President Xi seemed to be genuinely interested in all of these issues and finding a way to move forward to again strengthen the relationship between China and the Philippines. I’m quite gratified that we had made a good start,” ang wika ni Pangulong Marcos sa isang panayam.

Naging mahaba, matagal at detalyado naman ang pag-uusap ng Asian leaders ukol sa climate change, inilarawan ni Pangulong Marcos bilang “a subject that we cannot leave alone or it will come back to haunt us in the future.”

Ayon sa Pangulo, mayroon din aniyang nag-aalok ng tinatawag na “soft infrastructure” pagdating sa aspeto ng digitalisasyon sa government bureaucracy at pagpapabuti sa connectivity sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa.

“We had a very fruitful exchange of ideas and beginnings of a plan for moving forward… And we covered so many subjects, much more than as usual for these very formal meetings. We talked about the trade imbalance between our country and China and what we can do to remedy this,” ayon sa Pangulo.

Nagbunga rin aniya ang naturang pagpupulong ng “durian protocol,” nagtapos sa isang kasunduan para sa page-export ng durian sa China.

Kapwa naman sumang-ayon ang Maynila at Beijing sa isang “protocol of phytosanitary requirements” sa pag-export ng fresh durian mula Pilipinas patungong China sa pamamagitan ng Department of Agriculture (DA) at General Administration of Customs ng China.

Pinag-uusapan din ng dalawang lider kung ano ang kanilang gagawin para makaiwas sa posibleng pagkakamali at hindi pagkakaunawaan na magdudulot ng mas malaking problema.

“And I was very clear in trying to talk about the plight of our fishermen. And the President (Xi) promised that we would find a compromise and find a solution that will be beneficial, so that our fishermen might be able to fish again in their natural fishing grounds,” ang pahayag ni Pangulong Marcos.

Binanggit din ng Punong Ehekutibo ang naging pulong nila ni Chinese Premier Li Kequiang at National Congress of the People’s Republic of China chairman Li Zhanshu.

14 bilateral agreements

Kaugnay nito, lumagda ang Pilipinas at Tsina sa 14 na bilateral agreements nitong Miyerkoles.

Kabilang sa nasabing kasunduan ay may kaugnayan sa agrikultura, imprastraktura, development cooperation, maritime security, turismo at iba pa.

Nilagdaan kapwa ng Pilipinas at Tsina ang joint action plan para sa taong 2023-2025 na may kaugnayan sa “agricultural and fisheries cooperation” sa pagitan ng Department of Agriculture (DA) at Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs ng China, at maging ang memorandum of understanding (MOU) ukol sa kooperasyon sa Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

“Launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the BRI is a global infrastructure development strategy to invest in nearly 150 countries and international organizations, enhancing connectivity and facilitate smoother trade flows between Asia, Europe, and Africa,” ayon sa ulat.

Nagkasundo rin ang Manila at Beijing sa pagbigay ng sertipiko ng Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology-Technological Cooperation Phase III (PHILSCAT-TCP III).

Apat na loan agreements din ang sinelyuhan para sa mixed-credit financing (US Dollar and Renminbi) ng tatlong priority bridge projects sa ilalim ng public works department.