Saturday, October 02, 2010

September 30, 2010, 4:56pmMANILA, Philippines – Today (Friday) is the 61st Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRoC).

The PRoC was founded on October 1, 1949, with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square. The Central People’s Government passed the Resolution on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China on December 2, 1949, and declared that October 1 is the National Day, which marks the start of one of the two Golden Weeks in the PRC.

The National Day is celebrated throughout China with a variety of government-organized festivities, including fireworks and concerts. Public places such as Tiananmen Square in Beijing are decorated in a festive theme. Portraits of revered leaders are publicly displayed.

The Philippines and China established diplomatic relations on June 9, 1975, with the signing of the Joint Communiqué by leaders of the two countries. Since then, bilateral relations between China and the Philippines have been active and cordial. This is evidenced by the continuity of high-level contacts and exchanges for the past several years.

Bilateral trade between China and the Philippines continues to increase and will expand further, especially in investment relations and trade diversification, as well as business-to-business linkages. This was the assessment made by Philippine Embassy in Beijing after trade figures from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) showed that bilateral trade between the Philippines and China has increased by 52.6 percent to US$13.1 billion in the first half of 2010 over the same period last year. Top exports of the Philippines to China as of June 2010, were electrical machinery and equipment, mechanical appliances, ores, copper, minerals, plastics, and electronic goods. China’s top exports to the Philippines were electrical machinery and equipment, mechanical appliances, iron and steel, minerals, and clothing accessories.

We congratulate the people and government of the People’s Republic of China led by H.E., President Hu Jintao, and its Embassy in the Philippines headed by H.E., Ambassador Liu Jianchao, on the occasion of their National Day. We wish them all the best and success in all their endeavors.