Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that he is looking forward to visiting the Philippines after accepting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's invitation.

A joint statement released by both countries during the conclusion of Duterte's four-day state visit to China on Friday said that President Xi had accepted Duterte's invitation to visit the Philippines "at a convenient time."

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"President Xi Jinping accepted the invitation with pleasure," the joint statement said.

State visit

Duterte extended the invitation to Xi to visit the Philippines during his first official state visit to China where he was given full military honors and a red carpet welcome.

Analysts said Beijing reciprocated Duterte's decision not to raise the South China Sea issue during their talks with a bonanza of private and government deals worth US$24 billion.

More than 400 business executives accompanied Duterte on his trip hoping to China.

Business deals

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the deals were in the form of investments, soft loans, and credit facilities to finance infrastructure projects. The amount is spread across the country's different industries such as tourism, agriculture, energy, construction, commerce, among others.

Lopez said the multi-billion dollar package would generate two million jobs for the Filipino people with the figure expected to increase in five years.

Out of the $US24 billion worth of deals Duterte took home to Manila, US$15 billion came from Chinese private companies while the US$9 billion were in the form of soft loans and credit facilities from Chinese banks.

Future bilateral talks

Meanwhile, Beijing and Manila have agreed to engage in future  bilateral talks to settle their dispute over the South China Sea.

Duterte said that he did not raise the South China Sea dispute during his talks with President Xi saying it was not the "proper time" to do so.

The Philippine leader said that his visit to China was meant to improve ties between Manila and Beijing and seek investments to boost his country's economy.  

TagsPresident Xi Jinping, President Rodrigo Duterte, Duterte's China visit, full military honors, red carpet welcome, President Xi Manila visit, State Visit