On January 23, 2003, a Philippine delegation led by Philippine Congress Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and Congressman Roque Ablan, Jr. descendants of the Rizal clan, officials of the Knights of Rizal and members of the Filipino & Chinese business community held the wreath-laying ceremony before the Rizal Monument in the Rizal Park in Siongque Village (called "Zhang-Guo" in Mandarin Chinese), Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Siongque is the ancestral village of Philippine national hero Dr.

The Philippines and the People's Republic of China signed on 09 June 1975 the Joint Communique establishing diplomatic relations between them. Since then, relations between the two countries have evolved into one of the most important bilateral ties the Philippines has forged. The past twenty-five years bear witness to the increasing vibrancy of these relations.

Throughout the twenty-five years, the Philippines and China have exchanged high-level visits such as the State Visits to China of Philippine Presidents Ferdinand E. Marcos, Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Similarly, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Premiers Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, and Zhu Rongji visited the Philippines. These exchanges illustrate the significant strides already taken in the relationship between the two countries, a relationship firmly guided by the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and equality.