China is considering a “wholesale” deal that will grant Philippine fishing vessels access to disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal waters in the South China Sea, an influential Chinese academic and government adviser said yesterday, as relations between the two countries improve. China has been thinking of means to grant Philippine fishing vessels access to the island’s waters since President Duterte visited Beijing in October, said Wu Shicun, head of government-run National Institute for South China Sea Studies.“A wholesale bilateral fishing industry deal is still being discussed, an agreement has not yet been reached,” Wu said at a forum in Beijing.

'China mulls granting Phl access to disputed shoal'. (2016, November 26). The Philippine Star, p. 2.