MANILA -- President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. is set to be the first world leader to visit China in 2023, Beijing said Saturday.

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During China's Foreign Ministry press conference, its spokesperson Wang Wenbin said "Marcos will be the first foreign head of state China will receive in the new year."

"This will be President Marcos’s first visit to China after taking office and his first official visit to a non-ASEAN country. It fully demonstrates the high importance China and the Philippines attach to bilateral relations," Wenbin said.

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During the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks with Marcos.

"Leaders of the two sides will have in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest and jointly chart the course forward for our relationship," Wenbin added.

During his first State of the Nation Address in July, Marcos said his administration "will stand firm in our independent foreign policy, with the national interest as our primordial guide."

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Marcos has insisted he would not let China trample on the Philippines' maritime rights in the sea -- in contrast to former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was reluctant to criticize the superpower.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of it.

Marcos will travel with First Lady Liza Marcos, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, and several Cabinet secretaries.