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South China Sea

Philippines wants China economic ties despite tensions: top official

Manila hopes Japan will take a larger economic role, including more ODA funding

Arsenio Balisacan, secretary of the Philippine National Economic and Development Authority, expressed the importance of sustaining economic momentum at a media roundtable in Tokyo on June 20. (Photo by Yuichi Shiga)

TOKYO -- The Philippines' economic planning chief says the country is open to investment from and trade with "any country, including China," even as tensions between the two keep growing in the South China Sea.

China is the top trading partner for the Philippines, with $41 billion in combined exports and imports in 2023, followed by $21 billion with Japan and $20 billion with the U.S.

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