Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrived in Nanning on Sunday to attend a China-ASEAN summit slated for Monday in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

 

Arroyo headed a huge delegation consisting of nearly 200 officials and businessmen.

 

According to the agenda, She will also attend the third China-ASEAN Expo and address the opening ceremony of the third China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

 

Arroyo visited east China's Fujian and Jiangxi provinces and Guilin, a scenic site in Guangxi, before her arrival here.

 

The China-ASEAN Summit is to mark the 15th anniversary of the China-ASEAN dialogue relations. Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders from ASEAN countries will attend the summit. Wen will hold bilateral meetings with the ASEAN leaders respectively on the sidelines of the summit.

 

According to Chinese official statistics, China-ASEAN bilateral trade grew 20 percent annually over the past 15 years, reaching US$130 billion last year, 15 times the figure in 1991.

 

The trade between China and the Philippines hit US$17.6 billion in 2005, jumping over thirty percent from a year earlier, making China the fourth largest trading partner of the Philippines.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2006)