China seeks to mend ties with Philippines
Beijing: China Saturday sought to mend ties with the Philippines, expressing hope that bilateral relations hurt by a territorial row would be back on the track.
China's Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao in the leadership succession later this year, said, "China-Philippines relations have encountered some difficulties."
However, he said "through effective communications between the two sides, the tensions have been eased."
"I hope the situation would not reverse backwards and bilateral relations could come back to the track of normal development," Xi told the Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, a special envoy of the Philippine President Benigno S Aquino III.
Xi met Roxas on the sidelines of the ninth China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The relations were affected by disputes of Haungyan islands referred to as Scarborough Shoal by Philippines.
Xi called on the two nations to honestly implement the consensus in an aim to promote the healthy and stable development of the bilateral relations.
He said the Philippines could forge mutual trust with China, overcome the current difficulties and maintain cooperative relations.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 16:51