Philippines hails new relationship with China

The Philippines’ trade minister is predicting economic ties with China will grow faster than ever as the island nation sets aside their maritime border disputes, signaling a sea change from Manila’s confrontational approach to diplomacy initially under a tough-talking new president. A year after an international tribunal dealt a blow to Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea, Philippine Secretary of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that his country was taking a “realistic and practical” approach to their territorial disputes. As the Philippines’ target for GDP growth was an ambitious 7% to 8% in the coming five years, Lopez said, China would be the key force to help his country achieve that. He pointed to the 34% year-on-year growth of exports from the Philippines to the mainland and Hong Kong from January to May.