China will work with the Philippines to continuously push forward bilateral strategic cooperation, President Hu Jintao said Tuesday at a meeting with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Hu, who is in New York to attend the UN summit on the 60th anniversary of its establishment, said bilateral relations have registered new progress since his visit to the Philippines in April this year when the two sides agreed to build strategic relations of cooperation.

Hu cited the 35-percent growth of bilateral trade in the first half of this year, smooth bilateral cooperation in such areas as agriculture, fishery, infrastructural construction, mineral resources and tourism, and bilateral cooperation on major regional and international issues such as cooperation in East Asia.

Arroyo spoke highly of the joint exploitation of the South China Sea by the Philippines, China and Vietnam, and suggested the Philippines and China further strengthen cooperation in such areas as railways, infrastructure and energy.

Hu said the Chinese side will continue to make joint efforts with the other two parties to ensure a successful exploitation of the South China Sea.

He hoped China and the Philippines will cooperate closely in a railway project in the northern part of the Philippines, the biggest cooperative project between the two countries so far.

Hu also said the two countries share a great deal of consensus on UN reform and China will strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Philippines to push the reform to advance along the right track.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2005)