Chinese Ambassador Zhao says President Duterte has accepted invitation to attend "One Belt, One Road" summit in Beijing in May pic.twitter.com/hRlErG8qoI — Willard Cheng (@willardcheng) February 27, 2017

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte is heading to Beijing for the second time since assuming office as he attends a multilateral summit in China's capital in May, the country's envoy to Manila said Monday.

Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said President Duterte has accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping's invitation to attend the "One Belt, One Road" summit, a high level gathering among leaders.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte makes a speech during the Philippines - China Trade and Investment Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, October 20, 2016. Wu Hong, Reuters

Zhao said there will an opportunity for both sides to have a bilateral meeting which he said will advance further the two countries' bilateral relationship.



China has given few details about the summit, but diplomatic sources in Beijing say the government is expected to invite a large number of foreign leaders to attend.

China has dubbed a series of infrastructure projects stretching across some 60 countries as the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, based upon resurrecting the old Silk Road that once connected China with Central Asia, Europe and beyond.

- with a report from Reuters and Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News