Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte salutes while as he reviews Chinese navy soldiers onboard China's missile destroyer Changchun in Davao city, the Philippines, May 1, 2017. A Chinese naval fleet has begun a three-day friendly visit after arriving Sunday at Davao city in the southeastern region of The Philippines. [Photo/Xinhua]

The trio of Chinese ships set sail from Shanghai on April 24 and will visit about 20 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania on a 180-day voyage.

This is the longest goodwill visit with the greatest number of countries visited the PLA Navy has ever made, Xinhua reported.

The ships' visit to the Philippines came a day after the meeting of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila.

Zhang Xuegang, a Southeast Asian studies expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the voyage would facilitate stronger trust between the two countries and further reduce tension in the South China Sea.

"The goodwill visit shows that China is willing to work with any ASEAN country to promote regional peace and security," Zhang said.

zhangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn