China remains the Philippines' top export market with almost 27 percent of the Philippines' total exports being shipped to the world's second largest economy, the Philippines' Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday.

The DTI said China is also the top import supplier accounting for 23 percent of the Philippines' total imports, as well as the Philippines' top trading partner.

"This trend will continue," Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) Shanghai's Commercial Vice Consul Mario Tani said in a statement.

Tani said that the Philippine exports to China grew by almost 9 percent annually from 8.02 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to 8.70 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, while the imports from China growing at an average of almost 3 percent annually from 17.46 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to 21.39 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.

Tani also noted that China remains among the top sources of investments, including being the top source of approved foreign investments amounting to 1.13 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.

"These growth trends are indications of the strong interest and the huge potential for even more Chinese-led trade and investments in the country," Tani said.

"These are also fully aligned with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with both our countries' long term plans complementing each other, as BRI partner countries work together in plotting not short-term plans, but rather, the long term trajectory of bilateral ties," Tani added.

The DTI, through the PTIC Shanghai, took part in the China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) 2020 Roadshow held on July 16 in Shanghai.

The CIFIT, approved by China's State Council, takes place every September in Xiamen, in southern China's Fujian Province and aims at promoting bilateral and multilateral economic and trade exchanges and partnerships.