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Duterte to finalize China deals in second trip to Beijing

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ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1454215" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><p>MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte hopes to &quot;cement&quot; China&#x27;s trade and investment pledged during his second visit to Beijing this month, one of his economic managers said Monday.</p><p>Rebuilding the country&#x27;s infrastructure will be high on Duterte&#x27;s agenda when he attends the Belt and Road Forum next week, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.</p><p>&quot;China has already committed something like $9-billion in financing, so with Japan, $9-billion...We just want to be there to maybe exchange notes, make sure that these commitments are cemented,&quot; he said in a phone interview with ANC&#x27;s Market Edge.</p><p>It will mark the President&#x27;s second time in eight months in the Chinese capital, where he secured $24 billion in trade and investment <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/21/16/duterte-heads-home-from-china-with-24-billion-deals">pledges</a> last October.</p><p>Diokno said his office was in talks with the Chinese Ambassador in Manila to discuss possible financing from the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank.</p><p>Diokno, who just arrived from the Asian Development Bank gathering in Yokohama, is confident the ADB and the AIIB &quot;can co-exist side by side.&quot;</p><p>&quot;There is estimated requirement, an annual $1.7-billion for power, telecommunication, transport and water. There’s room for financial institutions,&quot; he said.</p><p>He said the ADB is set to finance 5 water projects in the the Philippines through grants totaling $770-million over the next 3 years, and underscored that every other country has a need for infrastructure.</p><p>&quot;In our case, we are ready to spend something like P8- to P9-trillion, so that’s about $170-billion and some of them will be funded by China and Japan. In the case of China, we will co-finance it with AIIB. In the case of Japan, we will co-finance it with ADB,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>President Rodrigo Duterte hopes to "cement" China's trade and investment pledged during his second visit to Beijing this month, one of his economic managers said Monday.</p>

President Rodrigo Duterte hopes to "cement" China's trade and investment pledged during his second visit to Beijing this month, one of his economic managers said Monday.