China will be working with the Philippines on 30 projects worth $3.7 billion that aim to alleviate poverty, the two countries announced following a meeting in Beijing on Monday.

"China supports president Duterte to lead the Philippines people in developing their economy," Hua Chunying, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Monday.

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Carlos Dominguez, the Philippine's Finance Secretary, described the meeting as "very productive" and revealed that both countries also discussed on bigger initiatives in rural areas as well as smaller projects.

The initial batch still needs to be finalize and paperwork still need to be passed to the banks involved, Gao Hucheng, Chinese Commerce Minister, said without providing further details.

The recent deal is the first announcement made from the visit of a Philippine cabinet delegation to China, three months after President Rodrigo Duterte came to Beijing to form new commercial alliances with the second biggest economy in the world.

It can be recalled that Duterte pivoted the country's foreign policy, turning its back from its long-time ally the United States towards doing more regional agreements for loans and business to cater his
"pro-Filipino" policy.

The Philippine delegation#mce_temp_url# for this trip includes Duterte's fiancé, budget, economic, public works, and transport secretaries, the ABS-CBN News reported.

Both parties are also poised to tackled the Philippine's chairmanship of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference this year.

Meanwhile, Perfecto Yasay, the secretary of foreign affairs in the Philippines, has earlier expressed his confidence that a code of conduct in the South China Sea between ASEAN and China could be finalized later this year.

Tagschina, Philippines, Duterte, ASEAN