President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. held his first-ever bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the ongoing APEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.
 
Marcos said he was “very happy” with the meeting, which was mostly about “getting to know” each other. 
 
“It’s the first time that I’ve met President Xi Jinping and I was very happy that we were able to have this opportunity here in the APEC Meeting in Bangkok to have a bilateral meeting,” Marcos said after the meeting.
 
“The bilateral meetings are really just a kind of getting-to-know-you and that was the same with our meeting,” he said.
 
The two leaders also had the opportunity to discuss strengthening and expanding the Philippines-China relationship, particularly in the areas of agriculture, energy, infrastructure and people-to-people connections.
 
Marcos and Xi agreed to hold further bilateral talks to have a more comprehensive discussion of issues after congratulating the Philippine leader for winning the polls in May.
 
They also discussed the plans for Marcos to hold his state visit to China in January next year.
 
Marcos noted that details that need to be discussed between the Philippines and China will be taken up during his visit, describing the recent meeting as “a very pleasant exchange.”
 
Xi was also surprised to meet former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who accompanied Marcos during the meeting.
 
“And they had a few minutes of recollecting the meetings that they have had, which I think helped the tone of the meeting. So I am looking forward to January and the state visit to China.”