Source: People’s Daily
China and the Philippines have enjoyed sound development of cultural exchanges in recent years.
At the 39th Manila International Book Fair held this September, booths of Chinese books made their debut. Among them, the first and second volumes of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” attracted a number of Philippine readers at the fair.
In addition, Chinese book corners have been established in many public libraries such as the National Library of the Philippines. They bring great satisfaction to Chinese-language learners in the country and opened a window for Philippine readers to know more about China.
China-Philippines education cooperation also made new progress. Chinese has been officially introduced as a foreign language to the curriculum system of Philippine public middle schools by the country’s Department of Education.
At present, 82 public middle schools in the Philippines offer Chinese-language courses, and China has trained 304 Chinese-language teachers for the Philippines, according to Zhang Shifang, chief of the Chinese Language Program of the Philippine Department of Education.
This year, 11,000 students from Philippine public middle schools have taken part in the Chinese Proficiency Test, China’s only standardized test of Chinese language proficiency for non-native speakers, Zhang noted.
“Chinese language teaching shows a vital momentum in Philippine mainstream society, and the Philippine Department of Education is looking forward to enhancing cooperation with China’s Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) in the training of local Chinese language teachers,” Zhang said.
Tourism cooperation has become a highlight after China and the Philippines embraced the turnabout of bilateral ties. In the first 7 months of 2018, 760,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines, up 40 percent from a year ago. The whole-year figure is expected to hit 1.5 million.
People-to-people exchanges between China and the Philippines have withstood the tests of disasters. China always lends a helping hand immediately after natural disasters occur in the Philippines.
The country actively assisted the infrastructure reconstruction of Marawi and promoted water system project in the Philippines’ rural region, supporting the Philippines to improve livelihood, reduce poverty and realize sustainable development with practical action.
Philippines-China relations are at best in recent years, said Sixto Benedicto，vice chairman of Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU). It is believed that through expansion of openness and communication, China and the Philippines can continue to enhance mutual understanding and trust, and consolidate public opinion basis, so as to become reliable cooperation partners for each other, he noted.
Dancers of Ballet Philippines perform in Beijing. The group visited Beijing and Shanghai this year, a return visit to the Philippine by the National Ballet of China two years ago. Photo by Xinhua News Agency
中菲文化交流硕果累累
来源：人民日报
近年来，中菲两国人文交流不断结出丰硕成果。今年9月举行的第三十九届马尼拉国际书展上，《习近平谈治国理政》第一卷和第二卷等主题类图书吸引了众多菲律宾读者，这是“中国图书展”在展会上首次亮相。同时，菲律宾国家图书馆等多地公共图书馆，相继建立中国图书角，极大满足了越来越多汉语学习者的需求，为菲律宾读者感知中国打开了一扇窗。
中菲两国教育合作也不断取得新进展。汉语已作为正式外语课程被菲律宾教育部纳入公立中学课程体系。菲律宾教育部汉语项目督导章石芳介绍，目前全菲已有82所公立中学开设了汉语课程，中方帮助培养在职汉语教师达304名，2018年参加汉语水平考试的菲律宾公立中学学生人数达到1.1万人，“汉语教学在菲律宾主流社会呈现出蓬勃发展的态势，菲律宾教育部期待和中国国家汉办/孔子学院总部在本土汉语师资培养等项目上进一步加强合作。”
中菲关系转圜以来，旅游合作成为一大亮点。2018年1月至7月，中国赴菲律宾旅游人数为76万人次，比2017年增加40%，全年游客总数有望突破150万人次。
中菲民间交往还体现在患难中的可贵友谊。每当菲律宾遭受自然灾害，中国人民总是在第一时间伸出援手。中方积极援助马拉维基础设施重建，推进菲农村饮水泵站等项目，用实际行动支持菲律宾提振民生、减贫助困、实现可持续发展。
“菲中关系正处在近年来的最好时期。”菲中了解协会副主席本纳迪克托对本报记者表示，“相信两国通过扩大开放交流，能够不断增进彼此了解与互信，夯实民意基础，做值得信赖的合作伙伴。”
今年，菲律宾芭蕾舞团访问北京和上海，这既是继2016年中国芭蕾舞剧《大红灯笼高高挂》在菲演出后的首次互访。图为菲律宾舞蹈演员在北京演出时的场景。（图片来源：新华社）
