The Philippines are ready to carry out military exercises with the participation of the Chinese warships, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik news agency.

Earlier in the day, Duterte visited China's warships that arrived in the port of the Davao City located on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao paying the first visit of Beijing's ships to the Philippines.

"Yes, I said I agree. We can have joint exercises here in Mindanao, maybe in the Sulu Sea," Duterte said, as quoted by the Philippine Star newspaper, speaking about the possibility to hold joint Chinese-Philippine drills.

He added that the docking of the Chinese ships in the Philippines was a part of confidence-building measures between Beijing and Manila.

Duterte has already made a number of moves aimed at rapprochement between Manila and Beijing and announced that his country was distancing from the United States.