President Marcos Jr. yesterday returned from a three-day state visit to China, bringing home 14 signed bilateral agreements and $22 billion worth of investment pledges in the fields of energy, mineral processing, transportation, and agribusiness.
During the visit, the Philippines and China also signed six infrastructure financing deals, one completion document as well as cooperation/implementation deals on electronic commerce, customs, information technology as well as tourism.
The Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said the investment pledges stem from the President’s roundtable discussion yesterday with chief executive officers (CEOs) of several companies in Beijing before he returned to Manila in the afternoon and the bilateral agreements were signed on Wednesday.
The commitments include $1.72 billion in agribusiness, $13.76 billion in renewable energy, and $7.32 billion in strategic monitoring such as electric vehicles and mineral processing.
The agribusiness investments stem from the signed protocol on market access for Philippine durian to China, and pledges in coconut and food processing; development of durian production; the use of alternative green technology for the processing and marketing animal feeds and other agriculture related products and; the fertilizer supply and other agriculture inputs agreement.
The President welcomed the intention of some Chinese companies to invest in coconut, durian production, and the Philippine livestock sector, which he said could generate much-needed employment, enrich the sector’s research and development activities, enhance domestic and international trade, and ensure food security.
The OPS said the renewable energy (RE) investments include those in solar and wind power generation; and manufacture of equipment such as wind turbine generation towers, foundations, and also blades, and other wind turbine parts.
“We look forward to more Chinese investments in renewable energy pursuits such as in solar and wind, as well as in related sectors including battery energy storage systems and off-grid power supply systems,” Marcos said.
The other investments in the energy sector include the photovoltaic, onshore and offshore wind turbine generation, waste-to-energy, and other renewable energy projects.
The government attributed the interest in RE to the lifting of foreign ownership on generation projects in the sector
The President also had a roundtable meeting with business executives of companies involved in mineral processing and e-vehicles (EVs) who he invited to explore investment opportunities in the manufacture of EV parts and components, and urged them to pursue development in green technology and technological innovation platforms such as R&D centers, innovation centers, laboratories, and incubators.
President Marcos Jr. and President Xi Jinping during their bilateral meeting on January 4 agreed to strengthen the cooperation in trade, agriculture, infrastructure, and other areas as both countries committed to surpass the bilateral trade level before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The two leaders highlighted the importance of promoting more balanced trade between the two countries by facilitating greater market access for Philippine exports into China,” a joint statement quoted by the OPS said.
It added the two leaders also welcomed the updating of the MOU between the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Philippine Stock Exchange, further expanding the areas of capital market cooperation between the two countries along with the signing of numerous agreements between the business sectors.
Marcos, during his meeting with Xi, received and welcomed the commitment of the Chinese to address the trade deficit gap as China readies to accept high-value Philippine agricultural products.
He raised during their meeting that China has become the Philippines’ largest trading partner amid an imbalance between exports and imports.
“I’m very glad that we are in the process of finalizing the rules and regulations for the import by China of fruits from the Philippines. I believe that very soon now, we will be able to see … the high-quality agricultural products coming from the Philippines start to come into China to balance the trade situation,” he said.
Infrastructure financing
Benjamin Diokno, secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF), who accompanied the President, signed six bilateral agreements and one completion document on infrastructure financing on behalf of the Philippine government last January 4, witnessed by Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping in ceremonies held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Four individual loan agreements, with an aggregate amount of $201.8 million, were co-signed by Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) chairman Wu Fulin for the financing of the Priority Bridges Crossing Pasig-Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway.
With the signing of the loan agreements, the cumulative loan commitments with China for ongoing projects now stand at $1.06 billion.
Meanwhile, the Framework Agreement for the implementation of the Priority Bridges Crossing Pasig-Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway under Chinese Government Financing, co-signed by China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) chairman Luo Zhaohui, is a precursor agreement which gives the Philippines access to the Renminbi (RMB)-denominated government concessional loan facility portion of the loan.
Diokno and CIDCA chairman Luo also signed the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation Between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
The grant agreement provides RMB1.5 billion, equivalent to about $217.7 million or P12.2 billion, for projects to be agreed between China and the Philippines based on the development plan and specific needs of the Philippine government.
Finally, Diokno and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao signed the Handover Certificate for the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge — the two China-Aid Bridges completed on April 13, 2022 and Sept. 17, 2021, respectively.
E-commerce, tourism
Also on January 4, Secretary Fred Pascual of the Department of Trade and Industry and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao signed a memorandum of understanding on Electronic Commerce Cooperation which was also witnessed by Marcos .
The MOU identified three areas of cooperation: promoting trade of high-quality featured products and services; pursuing business exchanges between MSMEs and e-commerce platforms, start-ups, and logistics service providers; and sharing of best practices and innovative experiences in utilizing e-commerce.
Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco of the Department of Tourism and her counterpart Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping signed an Implementation Program on Tourism Cooperation to push for the bilateral tourism cooperation between the Philippines and China.
“This… Program will generate massive employment opportunities and investments across all sectors of tourism throughout the Philippines, Frasco said.
The Program aims to realize the goals stated in the MOU signed by the Philippines and China in September of 2002.
Under the five-year cooperation, both countries have agreed to encourage and support the exchange of their respective administrators and tourism professionals in order to strengthen the mutual development in the field of hotels, resorts, cruise, port, tourism products, and other related industries and competency standards. With Angela Celis and Irma Isip
