Beijing — China and the Philippines announced on Aug 29 that they would set up an intergovernmental joint steering committee on oil and gas cooperation.

The announcement was made in a press release issued after the meeting between President Xi Jinping and visiting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

The two sides will also set up a working group between relevant enterprises from the two countries on oil and gas cooperation.

The moves are aimed at promoting joint exploration of oil and gas to engineer substantial progress at an early date.

The two new organs' establishment has been realized according to multiple documents including an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding (MOU) on oil and gas development, which was inked last November.