The People's Republic of China is looking forward to ushering in a new "golden era" of bilateral relations with the Philippines under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said Monday.

In his speech during the virtual celebration of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huang said the China-Philippines relations are now at a "new starting point."

"We are ready to work with the Philippines to implement the consensus reached by President Xi (Jinping) and President Marcos Jr. to follow through on the blueprint for cooperation to jointly usher in a new 'golden era' in our bilateral relations," he said.

"We should preserve the friendship between China and the Philippines. This is not only the common aspiration of the two peoples but also the inevitable choice for common development," he added.

Huang urged the Philippine government to continue its warm relationship with China which was started by Marcos predecessor — former President Rodrigo Duterte.

"We should cherish what we have achieved, stay committed to friendly cooperation to ensure that our friendship will last forever," he said.

"We should deepen mutual trust to ensure a solid foundation for China-Philippines relations. We need to step up communication on bilateral, regional and international issues from a strategic and long-term perspective, so as enhance mutual trust and prevent our cooperation from being overshadowed by trivia," he added.

'Handle differences'

Likewise, Huang stressed that the two nations should properly handle differences to remove interference from China-Philippines relations.

"We are neighbors that cannot be moved away and have every reason to live together peacefully," he said

"We should put our differences in a proper place and seek peaceful solutions through friendly consultations so that our overall relations will not be affected," he added.

He also said that the two countries should focus on cooperation to ensure the steady growth of their bilateral relations.

"The two countries share broad common interests and infinite potential for win-win cooperation. We should earnestly cooperate in the four key areas of agriculture, infrastructure, energy and people-to-people exchanges to enhance the sense of gain of our two people," he explained.

Marcos, who returned to the Philippines on Sunday from his week-long working trip in the United States, skipped the event, however, his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos was in attendance.

Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte and her brother Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte delivered their taped greetings for the occasion.