Tourism, exports may boost RP-China ties

BEIJING – As the Philippines and China celebrated 35 years of diplomatic relations last week, officials on both sides expressed optimism about the prospects for strengthening economic ties through tourism and export growth.

“We are hoping that we will have more Philippine products come into China to capture this huge market for the advancement of our country and people," Ambassador Francisco Benedicto told GMANews.TV on the sidelines of a gathering of Filipinos, Chinese, and members of the diplomatic community on Saturday to celebrate Philippine Independence Day.

Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, was equally optimistic about the economic scenario with the Philippines and expressed satisfaction with the growth of bilateral relations.

“Although many new things will be there in the future, for example the new president of the Philippines and the new five-year plan for China’s development, China-Philippine friendship will remain unchanged," he said at a ceremony preceding a performance of the Philippine Madrigal Singers here Sunday.

In Manila, China’s ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao noted that Senator Benigno Aquino III was proclaimed as the country’s next president on the exact date that China and the Philippines established diplomatic relations 35 years ago.

“Today represents an historic moment ushering in a new era for China-Philippine relations," he said in a congratulatory message to President-elect Aquino, who will be sworn into office on June 30.

Ambassador Benedicto said he has encouraged the heads of the six Philippine consulates in China to organize trade visits for Chinese investors, which involves taking them “to the Philippines to look for native products they can buy and bring to China."

Philippine exports to China in the first four months of 2010 amounted to $4.76 billion, while inbound Chinese goods totaled US$3.49 billion, according to a report made by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Beijing.

China was the Philippines’ fifth largest export market in 2009, buying goods worth US$2.93 billion – almost half the figure in 2008 due to the global economic downturn, the report said. Top Philippine exports to China include semiconductors, parts for electrical and electronic machinery, copper cathodes, optical-disk drives and parts for office machines, the report said.

Benedicto said the blueprint for closer business ties includes boosting the Philippines as a tourist destination for Chinese mainlanders. Some 180,000 Chinese tourists visited the country last year, up 13.3 percent from 2008, said the Philippine tourism attaché in Beijing.

China is currently the Philippines’ No. 4 source of tourists, the trade and investment center report said.

In five years, Chinese mainlanders are projected to make 100 million overseas trips in which they are expected to spend US$100 billion, China Daily reported last month, quoting the head of the China National Tourism Administration.

Countries across the globe are scrambling for a piece of the huge market in China, which has a fast-growing middle class within its population of 1.3 billion.

Target for diplomacy

Such close cultural and economic ties between the two nations were unimaginable back in 1971, when journalist Chito Sta. Romana first came to Beijing as a student.

“As a matter of fact, it was not allowed for Filipinos to come here at that point," he said. “We were the only Filipino students. Most of the students were from Vietnam, North Korea, Albania – China’s allies," he recalled.

At the time, China and the Philippines had not yet established diplomatic relations, and it was Taiwan that the Philippines recognized as China. Mainland China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since it was taken over by Nationalists after they lost to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

China and the Philippines established diplomatic ties on June 9, 1975. Sta. Romana, now the Beijing bureau chief of ABC News, described the development of bilateral relations as “incredible," particularly in the political arena.

He said China regards the Philippines as a “major target for diplomacy" due to its active role in the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups 10 countries in the region. “The Chinese consider the Philippines as a key part of ASEAN, and ASEAN is a major diplomatic ally," Sta. Romana added.

China is also becoming an increasingly important destination for Filipino workers and students. There are 1,500 Filipinos registered in the 16 cities, provinces and autonomous regions administered by the Embassy in Beijing alone. The number does not include Filipinos served by the Philippine consulates in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and Xiamen.

The relationship between the Philippines and China is “already comprehensive," said Maria Teresa Almojuela, consul general at the Embassy in Beijing, who has been involved in Sino-Philippine affairs since 1994.

“Now we’re looking at making the relationship more solid," she said. – YA, GMANews.TV

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