BEIJING (via PLDT) - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reaffirmed Wednesday the Philippines’ adherence to the One-China Policy in her one-on-one dialogue and bilateral talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The dialogue and bilateral talks were held late Wednesday afternoon at the Great Hall of the People, following the full military honors accorded the visiting Philippine President by a composite Chinese military unit, including a company each from the Chinese Army, Navy and Air Force.

The members of the composite military unit were distinguishable by the color of their uniforms – fatigue for the Army, white for the Navy, and blue for the Air Force.

At her request, Guangzhou officials briefed her on the killer SARS pneumonia menace during a brief stopover at the capital of Guangdong province, before proceeding on to this Chinese capital for her three-day state visit.

The One-China Policy refers to the People’s Republic of China’s position that there is only one Chinese sovereign nation and that other Chinese territories claiming sovereignty are not to be recognized because they are mere provinces of China.

The policy particularly impacts on Taiwan, which has been waging a campaign for international recognition as sovereign country.

BEIJING -- Chinese President Hu Jintao called Wednesday for expanded economic and trade cooperation, and improved trade commodity ties, between the Philippines and China in talks with visiting President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo here, Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, reported.

Expansion of trade and economic relations was one of the four major proposals raised by the Chinese president to strengthen Chinese-Philippine relations during the one-on-one dialogue between the two leaders.

The three other proposals brought up by the Chinese president were:

1. The two governments should maintain high-level contacts, dialogues and exchanges, at all levels, by stepping up consultation and cooperation, and the holding of an appropriate ceremony marking the 30^th anniversary of the forging of diplomatic ties between the two countries. China and the Philippines established diplomatic relations in June 1975.

2. Strengthening of bilateral exchange and cooperation in culture, education, tourism and other related fields, and also in the security and judicial aspects to crack down more effectively on cross border crimes.

3. The two countries handle through bilateral discussions all concrete issues that may arise and that they remain good neighbors, friends and partners.

The Chinese president said the expansion of the two countries economic and trade relations could be achieved through heightened cooperation in agricultural technology, machinery and the cultivation of fine seed strains, cooperation in infrastructure construction and natural resource exploration.

Hu also said that China and the Philippines should maintain high growth rate in their bilateral trade.

China-Philippine trade soared to $9.4 billion last year, a 78.7 percent jump from the previous year as shown in the figures released by the Chinese government.

Beijing was the second leg of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s state visit to China on the invitation of President Hu. She landed in Guangzhou in South China’s Guangdong province early Wednesday en route to Beijing.

From Beijing, the President made a brief side-trip this morning to Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi province, and the old capital of China.

BEIJING (via PLDT) - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Chinese President Hu Jintao witnessed Wednesday night the signing of five vital cooperation agreements between their two countries that are expected to boost relations and impact significantly on Philippine development.

The bilateral signing ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People here, following the one-on-one meeting between the two leaders, and later the bilateral talks between their respective panels.

The President formally started her three-day China state visit Wednesday and immediately plunged into a series of official functions shortly after arriving here at 1:35 p.m. from Guangzhou, the capital city of Guandong province in southwestern China, where she first landed after leaving Manila.

The five agreements include a visa waiver for the two countries’ respective government and diplomatic officials, a joint marine seismic undertaking, an accord on fisheries cooperation, a tourism cooperation pact, and the North Luzon Railway Project agreement.

The visa waiver accord was signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and his Chinese counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. The agreement is expected to be expanded shortly to cover tourists, and thus enable Manila to tap into China’s vast tourist potentials.

Foreign Minister Li takes pleasure in telling members of the Filipino delegation about his having attended President Arroyo’s oath-taking in Cebu City and his visit to Malacaņang last July.

The fisheries cooperation agreement was signed by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and China Agriculture Deputy Minister Zhang Baowen. The accord seeks to address the problem of poaching and illegal fishing in the South China Sea, where the Philippines and China have overlapping territorial claims.

The tourism cooperation pact was signed by out-going Tourism Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan and He Guangwei, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration.

The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking accord was signed by Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) president and chief executive officer Eduardo Manalac and his counterpart, Fu Chiang You, president of China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC).

Secretary Silvestre Afable clarified that the agreement is not an oil exploration understanding but merely a cooperative and joint study on the oil potentials of the South China Sea area claimed by both China and the Philippines.

The agreement on the North Luzon Railway project was signed by North Luzon Railway Cooperation president Jose Cortez and Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China National Machinery and Equipment Group.

Under the accord signed, China has committed to extend a US$400 million loan to the first phase of the railway project spanning the stretch from Caloocan City to Malolos, Bulacan.

BEIJING – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo meets with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at 5:20 p.m. today (Thursday) at the Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party of China headquarters here, to discuss bilateral issues of common interest to the Philippines and China.

The meeting between the two leaders follows the President’s 30-minute talk with Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin, also at Zhongnanhai.

The President will meet members of the Filipino community here at the Kerry Centre Hotel to cap the second of her three-day China state visit.

Earlier in the day, the President and her delegation, that includes 105 Filipino-Chinese businessmen, visited the world famous Terra Cotta Museum in Xian, the old capital of China.

The museum features in battle formation battalions of life-size terra cotta (clay soldiers), horses and chariots of ancient Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang.