Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that he hoped Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's "milestone" visit to China could help "fully improve" ties between the two countries, which have suffered over disputes in the South China Sea.
Duterte arrived in Beijing on Tuesday with at least 200 top business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance, amid deteriorating relations with longtime ally the United States.
The effort to engage China, months after a ruling in the Hague over South China Sea disputes in favor of the Philippines, marks a reversal in Philippine foreign policy since Duterte took office on June 30.
Xi told Duterte during a meeting at Beijing's Great Hall of the People that China and the Philippines were brothers and that the two sides could "appropriately handle disputes", though he did not specifically mention the South China Sea row.
