(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation for him to visit China in April 2019.
According to a joint statement issued by the Philippines and China after Xi’s two-state visit, the invitation was specifically for President Duterte to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing.
President Duterte attended the first Belt and Road forum last year.
“President Xi Jinping appreciated the warm and friendly hospitality accorded to him and his delegation by President Duterte and the Philippine government,” the statement said.
Based on the statement, both sides also “agree that the milestone visit of President Xi Jinping has contributed to the advancement of friendship and cooperation between China and the Philippines.”
Xi is the first Chinese leader to embark on a state visit in the Philippines after Hu Jintao did the same in 2005, under the administration of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.