Located on the eastern edge of the body of water commonly referred to in English as the South China Sea, the Philippines is among the countries that dispute China’s claim to the area and its islands. Earlier this year, a Hague-based tribunal, constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ruled that China has no historical claim or sovereign rights to the islands in a case brought by the Philippines against the People’s Republic of China.

But the Philippines, under the leadership of the controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, has pivoted away from its relationship with the United States and towards China. Now, following a state visit by Duterte to Beijing, a state-owned Chinese company named CCCC Dredging has received a major contract to build the Philippines its own artificial islands.

As reported by the state-owned Chinese paper People’s Daily, the Philippines will gain four artificial islands off the coast of Davao City—incidentally where Duterte served as mayor before his rise to power. Davao City is located in the southern part of the country. The islands, comprising a total of 208-hectares, will be used for government offices, residences, ports, businesses, and industry.

Zhou Jingbo, the chairman of CCCC Dredging, “expects the project to become a model for future cooperation between the two nations”, according to People’s Daily. The project, which comprises dredging sediment from the seafloor and piling it on a reef, is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

h/t Quartz

More from the area:

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• China plans to build an underwater "space station" in the South China Sea
• China plans to build a fleet of floating nuclear power plants
• New satellite images show progress in China's island-building project