BEIJING—President Aquino on Wednesday renewed his call to China for a “regional solution” to the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea during his “very frank but very cordial” one-on-one meeting with President Hu Jintao.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters outside the Great Hall of the People, the venue of the one-on-one meeting of the two leaders, that improved trade and investment relations dominated the discussions but Mr. Aquino initiated brief exchanges on the West Philippine Sea issue and the Northern Luzon Railway project.

Lacierda said the discussion “was very frank but very cordial.”

“He [Aquino] mentioned that we have differences but these differences should not deter us from moving forward. The President also mentioned the position of the Philippine government or the Philippine side, because this a regional problem, it requires a regional solution,” Lacierda said.

The Chinese side responded by saying “that they continue to hold their consistent position that it should be resolved peacefully and they would encourage that...the South China Sea be developed as a sea of friendship, peace and cooperation.”

There were no discussions on specific mechanisms, but while Mr. Aquino didn’t specifically state it, Lacierda said the President mentioned “in general terms our position on a rules-based regime.”

“The President also mentioned that the West Philippine Sea issue is not the be-all and end-all of China-Philippines relations, and so emphasized the multilevel relations that we have with China,” he said.

Lacierda also said Mr. Aquino raised the Northrail project, which has been suspended because the Aquino administration believes it to be disadvantageous to the Philippine government, and his counterpart agreed on the need to “reconfigure” the project.

Lacierda said the discussion was dominated by the promotion of trade and investments and the cultural ties that bind the two countries. “The President mentioned and encouraged the Chinese side to invest more and the Chinese side also said they are willing to invest more in the Philippines and hopefully they can push with the $60-billion investment by 2016,” Lacierda said, referring to the Philippines-China Five-year Development Program for Trade and Economic Cooperation that was signed on Wednesday.

Hu, upon the request of Mr. Aquino, also “gladly agreed” to declare 2012- 2013 as the Year of Philippines-China Friendship, according to Lacierda.

Mr. Aquino and Hu later witnessed the signing of nine bilateral agreements and exchanges of letters to improve trade and cultural exchange between the two countries, including a five-year development program that seeks to generate $60 billion in bilateral trade and a minimum $1.5 billion in two-way direct investment in five years.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of the agreements in the Great Hall of the People, which was followed by a state banquet hosted by Hu in honor of his visit.

A briefing paper provided by Malacañang said the Philippines-China Five-year Development Program for Trade and Economic Cooperation sets a target of “an annual amount of $60-billion bilateral trade [using figures from the General Administration of Customs of China] and at least $1.5-billion cumulative two-way direct investment by the fifth year [2016].”

The Philippines and China identified nine key areas for bilateral cooperation under the program: agriculture and fishery, infrastructure and public works, mining, energy, information and communications technology (ICT), processing and manufacturing, tourism, engineering services and forestry.

China will provide the Philippines with 20 million renminbi or yuan (roughly $300,000) as a technical grant to be used for projects to be endorsed by the National Economic and Development Authority. China is considering the use of the grant for the Department of Agriculture-proposed coco-coir project.

Through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), a Ministry of Commerce investment officer will be assigned to the China desk of the Philippines’ Board of Investments, who will assist in promoting the Philippines to Chinese investors.

The MOU between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs aims to strengthen cooperation through frequent contacts between the foreign ministers and regular consultations at various levels.

In tourism, the two countries agreed to an exchange of tourism professionals and administrators, exchange of information, joint promotion, tourism investment, language and cultural training, and support for tourism fairs and exhibitions.

Officials of the two governments also signed a cooperation agreement between the People’s Television Network Inc. and the China Central Television and an MOU on sports cooperation.

They are also working on the creation of a joint working committee to begin work on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement reached between Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and China’s Justice Minister Wu Aiying.

On Thursday the President will have separate meetings with Premier Wen Jiabao and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, before leaving for Shanghai for the second leg of his three-city state visit that ends in Xiamen on Saturday.