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Philippines, China agree on $3.7B in anti-poverty projects

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Reuters

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/01/23/012317_xi.jpg"/></figure></div>BEIJING - China has agreed to cooperate with the Philippines on 30 projects worth $3.7 billion focusing on poverty reduction, the two countries said after a meeting in Beijing on Monday.Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng announced the deals without giving details, saying it was an &quot;initial batch&quot; of projects that still needed to be finalized and paperwork still needed to be processed by the banks involved.Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he had a &quot;very productive&quot; meeting with Gao and they had discussed large projects in rural areas, as well as some smaller projects.The deal is the first announcement from a two-day visit by a Philippine cabinet delegation to China that comes three months after President Rodrigo Duterte visited Beijing to pave the way for <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/20/16/duterte-heralds-springtime-in-ties-with-china">new commercial alliances</a>.China has welcomed Duterte&#x27;s foreign policy shift away from traditional ally the United States and towards doing more regional deals for loans and business under his &quot;pro-Filipino&quot; policy.Relations between the Philippines and China &quot;fully recovered&quot; after Duterte&#x27;s visit, and &quot;China supports president Duterte to lead the Philippines people in developing their economy,&quot; Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Monday.Chinese officials pledged $15 billion of investment to the Philippines during Duterte&#x27;s visit in October, according to the Philippine finance department.Asked whether US President Donald Trump&#x27;s economic policies would affect commercial ties between China and the Philippines, Dominguez said: &quot;It&#x27;s better to be with good friends.&quot;&quot;I&#x27;m not sure at this moment exactly what the new US policies, but I believe that the reorientation of our president to our neighbors really was very smart,&quot; Dominguez told reporters.The Philippine delegation is due to meet Vice Premier Wang Yang at Zhongnanhai, the Beijing complex that houses China&#x27;s central government, later on Monday.The Philippine team on the trip includes Duterte&#x27;s finance, budget, economic, public works and transport secretaries.The two sides will also discuss the Philippines&#x27; chairmanship of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year.Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Jan. 11 he was confident a code of conduct in the South China Sea between ASEAN and China could be finished by mid-2017.<div> </div>

China has agreed to cooperate with the Philippines on 30 projects worth $3.7 billion focusing on poverty reduction, the two countries said after a meeting in Beijing on Monday.

China has agreed to cooperate with the Philippines on 30 projects worth $3.7 billion focusing on poverty reduction, the two countries said after a meeting in Beijing on Monday.