MANILA - China and the Philippines have expressed their willingness to enhance cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to better the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Chen Min'er, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, said during the meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday that China is willing to increase the exchanges between the two parties and promote mutual trust with the Philippines.

"China hopes to cooperate closely with the Philippines to build the high-quality BRI, jointly maintaining multilateralism and promote regional development," said Chen, adding that Chongqing Municipality is also willing to share the opportunities with Philippine local governments to make new contributions by boosting exchanges and mutual learning from each other.

For his part, Duterte, also the chairman of the Philippines' ruling PDP-Laban party, expressed his gratitude to China for its help to the Philippines' development and said the blooming bilateral relations have brought more opportunities to the Philippines.

"The Philippines is ready to join hands with China to deepen the synergy between the BRI and the Philippines' 'Build, Build, Build' program," Duterte said.

The Philippines is willing to work together with Chongqing Municipality to strengthen exchange and cooperation, he added.

Invited by the Philippine PDP-Laban party, Chen made a five-day visit to the Philippines. During his visit, he also met with Alan Peter Cayetano, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, Aquilino Pimentel, the current president of the PDP-Laban party, and Sara Duterte, the Mayor of Davao City.

Chen also attended the Philippines-China (Chongqing) Trade and Investment Forum in Manila with Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.