The cooperation between China and the Philippines has been fruitful in recent years. On January 14, 2021, a Chinese enterprise and the Philippine Ministry of Public Works formally signed a business contract for the Davao-Samar Island Bridge project. The Davao-Samar Island Bridge project is the flagship project of the Philippine government's "Build, Build, Build" plan and is also a China-Philippines intergovernmental cooperation project. The contract value of the project is approximately US$400 million and will be financed by the Chinese government.

The Davao-Samar Island Bridge to be built is located in the Mindanao region of the Philippines and spans the Bakiputan Strait. It is a cross-sea bridge connecting Davao City, the third largest city in the Philippines, and the island garden of Samar City. The main structure of the Davao-Samar Island Bridge is a double-tower, double-cable-plane, low-tower cable-stayed bridge with a two-way four-lane design, with a total length of 3.86 kilometers, of which the total length of the cross-sea bridge is 1.62 kilometers, and the total project design and construction period is about 60 month.

The Davao-Samar Island Bridge is known locally as a "hundred-year dream". After its completion, it will greatly shorten the travel time between Davao City and Samal Island, and further revitalize the economic resources and tourism potential of Samal Island. The economic cycle and people’s livelihood development will play a significant role in improving.

In the next step, the Chinese and Philippine governments will negotiate on the content of the project loan agreement. The project is expected to be implemented in the first half of 2021. Editor/Xu Shengpeng