MANILA - China's ambassador to the Philippines has congratulated Ferdinand Marcos Jr for his victory in the presidential election, expressing confidence that ties between the two nations would be "stronger", a statement said Thursday.

"I have no doubt that under the next administration, our bilateral relations will only become stronger, our peoples closer and our cooperation deeper and wider," Huang Xilian said in the statement.

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Marcos, popularly known as Bongbong, secured more than half of the votes in Monday's election to win the presidency by a wide margin and cap a remarkable comeback for his family.

He and his running mate Sara Duterte, who also won the vice presidential race in a landslide, have embraced key policies of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, including his position on China.

Under Duterte, Manila's previously frosty relations with Beijing warmed as the authoritarian firebrand set aside an international ruling on the South China Sea in exchange for promises of trade and investment.

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China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea and has ignored the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that its historical claim is without basis.

It has reinforced its stance by building artificial islands over some contested reefs and installing weapons on them.

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© Agence France-Presse

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