China asks Philippines to be fair on national grid

China on Thursday urged the Philippines to be fair to a Chinese firm that had made important contribution to building the southeast Asian country's national power grid.

Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Hong Lei made the remarks in response to a question on the Philippines' decision to end the Chinese State Grid Corporation's involvement in the Philippines' power grid due to "national security concerns."

Media reports, quoting the Philippines' Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, said that Chinese technicians working for the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines will be sent home by July, but the Chinese company will retain its 40 percent stake in the National Grid Corp., which runs the Philippines' power grid.

"The Chinese enterprise bid in 2007 and won a 25 year franchise of the Philippines' national transmission grid," said Hong, adding that the Chinese firm had made an important contribution to the Philippines' drive for power self-sufficiency.

"(We) hope that the Philippine side will handle the issue in a fair and just way, uphold the Chinese enterprise's legitimate rights and create a favorable investment environment for foreigners," he said.