Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday he hoped to strengthen ties with Beijing on his first state visit to China since taking office.

China and the Philippines are at odds over the hotly disputed South China Sea, with Marcos expected to sign a deal in Beijing this week to establish direct communication on maritime issues.

Manila considers it "of primary importance to... strengthen the relationship between China and the Philippines", Marcos said in a meeting on Wednesday with top Chinese legislator Li Zhanshu.

Marcos, who is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, said he hoped for "partnerships that will stabilise and strengthen all of our economies".

Up to 14 bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during Marcos's visit, which ends on Thursday.

The Philippine government said last week both sides would sign a communication agreement to "avoid miscalculation and miscommunication in the West Philippine Sea", referring to the part of the South China Sea that it claims.

Marcos has insisted he will not let China trample on the Philippines' maritime rights in the area -- in contrast to his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who was reluctant to criticise the superpower.

The Philippines ordered its military last month to boost its presence in the contested waters after a Bloomberg report that China had started reclaiming several unoccupied land features around the Spratly Islands.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of it.

Marcos said on Tuesday before leaving for China he hoped to address "political security issues of a bilateral and regional nature".

"The issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends," he said.

China, Ecuador set to sign free trade agreement
Quito (AFP) Jan 4, 2023 - China and Ecuador will sign a free trade agreement after almost a year of negotiations, Ecuador's president said Tuesday, with the deal expected to boost growth in the South American country.

"Good news to start 2023. The FTA negotiation between China and Ecuador has been successfully concluded," President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter.

"Our exports will have preferential access to the largest market in the world, our industries will be able to acquire machinery and inputs at lower costs."

China is one of Ecuador's main trading partners, with bilateral trade estimated at more than $10 billion annually.

It was Ecuador's main non-oil trade partner in the first half of 2022, the trade ministry in Quito said.

No date had been set yet for the formal signing of the deal, which would take place after formalities were completed, it said.

The agreement, once signed, will make Ecuador the fourth Latin American country to have a free trade deal with China, after Costa Rica, Peru and Chile.

The deal is expected to boost Ecuador's exports of shrimp, bananas, flowers, cocoa and coffee, the trade ministry said in a statement, and also to "open the doors for the export of non-traditional products such as dragon fruit, pineapple, mango, blueberries, quinoa, processed foods, fresh and canned fruits."

Ecuador began negotiations on the deal in February 2022 after Lasso visited Beijing.

Lasso announced in September his government had secured a separate deal to extend payment terms and lower interest rates on $3.2 billion in debts held with two Chinese state-affiliated banks.

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