BEIJING—A high-level delegation from the Philippines led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has arrived here for a series of meetings with top-ranking Chinese officials to hammer out details of several proposed big-ticket projects that China has offered for funding, which include irrigation systems, power generation and railways.

Dominguez said the follow-up meetings here between Philippine and Chinese officials will continue the discussions on how to “move forward” on the projects covered by the agreements signed between the two countries.

“We submitted last November a list of projects to the Chinese government through the Chinese embassy in Manila for their review. The Philippine team would like to get their reactions and determine what their priorities are and see whether this also match our priorities,” Dominguez said in an interview here with members of the Chinese media.

The top-level mission, Dominguez said, also aims to further enhance “the strong friendship and economic cooperation” between the Philippines and China.

“President Duterte told me to extend his best regards to the Chinese officials that we will be meeting here as well as to the people of China, who showered him with a warm welcome during his state visit here last year,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the delegation’s list of projects that they will present to Chinese officials during the two-day visit include the improvement of irrigation systems for the benefit of the country’s poorest farmers; power generation, particularly in providing hydroelectricity; and railways construction.

“We admire China’s experience in all of these fields. China has demonstrated that it is among the best in the world in executing big infra projects,” he said.

“This will be our second discussion [with Chinese officials about the projects] since November last year. We hope that in our visit here, we would be able to proceed with the projects that are ready to be implemented,” Dominguez said.

He said the generous assistance offered by China to the Philippines is among the concrete results of the President’s foreign policy rebalancing towards accelerated integration with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and its major Asian trading partners China, Japan and South Korea.

“The President has recognized the importance of China in the region and he has redirected our economy more towards China and the ASEAN than to the West. I believe that China will continue to lead the world and continue to lead the ASEAN in becoming the engine of global growth,” Dominguez said.

Besides Dominguez, the Philippine team also includes Secretaries Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Director General Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

NEDA deputy director general Rolando Tungpalan, DPWH Undersecretaries Emil Sadain and Karen Jimeno, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president-CEO Vivencio Dizon are also part of the delegation.

Joining them likewise are DOF Assistant Secretaries Ma. Edita Tan and Mark Dennis Joven, DOTr Assistant Secretaries Leah Merida Quiambao and Cesar Chavez, and Assistant Secretary Julia Nebrija of the Metro Manila Development Authority.

While in Beijing, the Philippine officials are due to hold separate meetings with China Vice Premier Wang Yang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) vice chairman Wang Xiaotao.

They also plan to meet top officials of the China Investment Corp. (CIC).

The meetings will cover discussions on the government-to-government projects signed between the Philippines and China; the proposed projects for financing and feasibility studies; the chairmanship of the Philippines this year of the ASEAN; and matters concerning the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Philippines’ flagship infrastructure projects.

Philippine and Chinese officials have agreed in November last year in Manila to move ahead on, and set up structures of coordination to effectively implement, the investment pledges forged between Manila and Beijing during President Duterte’s state visit to China.

NDRC deputy chairman Ning Jizhe led a Beijing delegation last November in discussing in Manila the investment commitments and laying the ground work to allow both sides to push swiftly in implementing the projects covered by these pledges.

The NDRC is China’s chief planning and strategy agency.

During Mr. Duterte’s state visit to China, Dominguez signed three agreements on behalf of the Philippines.

These included the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation, which provides Manila with a RMB Yuan 100 million grant to implement projects for “anti-illegal drugs and law enforcement security cooperation,” and the MOU Supporting the Conduct of Feasibility Studies for Major Projects, in which China will provide financing support to the Philippines in undertaking feasibility studies for big-ticket projects in infrastructure, agriculture and rural development.

The third MOU signed by Dominguez during the President’s China trip was on Financing Cooperation with the Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM), which would allow the Philippines to tap China EXIM funds for its major projects through the usual approval processes.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said last year these agreements were among the $24 billion-worth of aid and investment pledges that China had committed to the Philippines comprising soft loans totaling $9 billion and other economic deals amounting to about $15 billion.