Despite an ongoing territorial dispute over the controversial South China Sea, the Chinese government said it seeks to encourage more investors and tourists from China to the Philippines, a top official said.

During a meeting with the members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua underlined the fact that Chinese investments in the Philippines have not been very satisfactory over the years.

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"We hope that we can pour more investment into the Philippines," said Zhao, adding that China is interested in the areas of infrastructure, energy and manufacturing.

The Chinese envoy also stressed that he wants to encourage investors from China into the Philippines' energy sector in order to bring down the country's power cost, which has been the highest in all of Southeast Asia.

Zhao said the Philippines has been investing more in China than the other way around.

Aside from bringing in Chinese investors, Zhao also wants to increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Philippines.

Last year, 426,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines despite the ongoing territorial dispute. The figure is 70% higher from the number of Chinese tourists visiting the country in 2012.

While the figure showed an increase over the years, Zhao said the Philippines still lags behind neighboring Southeast Asian nations. Last year, Thailand saw three million Chinese tourists while Malaysia registered four million visitors from China.

"Just imagine if the Philippines can attract just one million tourists from China. That will surely boost your country's tourism industry," Zhao said, adding that despite the territorial rift Chinese tourists are still attracted in the country's tourist destinations.

China was the third largest source of tourists to the Philippines last year, the Department of Tourism said.

In return, business and tourism leaders in the Philippines said they are interested to strengthen ties with China as they see China as a huge market to tap and explore.