Renewed Philippines-China ties guarantee market share

CEBU, Philippines — The Philippines' renewed relations with China should benefit the country economically and give Filipino firms a bigger market share in Asia's economic powerhouse.

Speaking at the 43rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila yesterday, Jin Yuan, commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy, said China, being the world's second largest economy, offers a lot of trade and investment opportunities to the Philippines.

He said China is a market of close to four billion population and has an increasing middle class, presenting opportunities to the Philippines to export more products to China.

"China can import as many as bananas, Cebu dried mangoes and other products," the embassy official said.

"We have seen more and more imports from the Philippines to China," he added.

He said Chinese investors coming to the Philippines are also seen to increase, which would provide more jobs and revenues in the country.

He said China can also cooperate with the Philippines in infrastructure development in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

China has pledged at least $124 billion to finance projects under the BRI.

Earlier, Department of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Chinese ambassador to Manila Zhao Jianhua have agreed to revitalize Philippine-China relations in five vital areas of cooperation, including currency swap arrangements, agricultural trade, customs and tourism.

These areas of cooperation include: Bilateral Financial Cooperation, in which both sides agreed to revisit current currency swap arrangement to manage foreign exchange risks; Project Financing, in which they agreed to explore possible areas of interest and cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, education, tourism, technology, power, ports and information technology (IT); and Agriculture Trade and Cooperation, in which both sides exchanged views on growth potentials in the agriculture sector and shared opportunities where the countries can mutually gain benefits, such as the export of Chinese-made agricultural equipment appropriate to the Philippine setting; expansion of Philippine exports to China such as tropical fruits (e.g., banana, coconut, pineapple) and “high-end” marine and fishery products such as lapu-lapu (grouper), bangus, tuna, crabs, and shrimps).

The other two are: Customs Cooperation, in which both agreed to cooperate in addressing reported trade gaps, improving the exchange of information on import/export data and curbing the entry of illegal drugs from China to the Philippines; and Growth in Tourism, in which Ambassador Zhao offered to assist in the joint development of tourist areas in the country and expressed interest in establishing the presence of Chinese hotel brands and chains in the country and increasing the number of Chinese tourist arrivals to the Philippines. (FREEMAN)