The Philippines and China signed 29 agreements last Tuesday on the first day of President Xi Jinping‘s state visit, including a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development. The other agreements had to do with trade and investments, banking and finance, agriculture, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges. Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi signed the agreement on oil and gas development which will cover the exploration that will soon begin on Reed Bank in the South China Sea west of Palawan.

Xi's visit presages new era in China ties. ( 2018, November 25). Manila Bulletin, p. 10.