Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on August 30 that among the agreements signed were a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on education cooperation between the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and China's Ministry of Education and MOU on science and technology cooperation between the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.
The Philippines' Bureau of Customs (BoC) and China's General Administration of Customs also inked a cooperative arrangement on the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement regarding cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters. There was also an implementation contract on the China-aided container inspection equipment between the BoC and the Ministry of Commerce.
On August 29, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte during which the two leaders expressed their willingness to further boost cooperative relations.
Duterte was “steadfast” in his nation’s territorial claims and its victory in the arbitral court three years ago, which the Philippine leader described as “final, binding and not subject to appeal,” Panelo said.
