Amid the escalating tension in the disputed South China Sea, President Duterte is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday April 25 in his four-day visit to Beijing. The President is expected to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon and meet the Chinese leader the next day at the Great Hall of the People. It will be Duterte’s first official activity in his Beijing trip. Xi has invited Duterte and other world leaders to join the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing from April 25 to 27. The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project, initiated by Xi, seeks to revive an ancient trading route called “Silk Road” to connect Asian markets with economies in Europe.

Kabiling, G. D. (2019, April 24). PRRD leaves for Beijing today for Belt and Road forum. Manila Bulletin, pp. 1, 11.