General

Since the beginning of this year, China Philippines has taken new steps in international trade and economic cooperation. The Joint Statement of the China and the Republic of the Philippines was released, China and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding on e-commerce cooperation, RCEP came into effect for the Philippines, and the first round of consultations, the second round of negotiations, and the third round of negotiations of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0 were held... In the first five months of this year, the total trade value between China and the Philippines was 221.594 billion yuan, up 4.4% year on year. Among them, exports to the Philippines amounted to 168.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.2%.

China has become the largest trading partner of the Philippines for seven consecutive years. In 2022, the import and export trade volume between China and the Philippines reached 87.725 billion US dollars. The export of Filipino agricultural products to China has rapidly increased. Currently, the Philippines has become the largest source of banana and pineapple imports for China, and fruits such as coconut, avocado, and durian have also entered the Chinese market.

In January of this year, China and the Philippines signed a protocol on the quarantine requirements for fresh durian plants imported from the Philippines to China. In April, the first batch of Philippine durians arrived in China. Belviz, president of the Durian Association of Davao City City, Philippines, said that up to now, more than 350 tons of Durian from Davao City City have been exported to China. After the RCEP takes effect, Chinese consumers can buy durian from the Philippines at a lower price, which means a larger market and more opportunities for Filipino fruit farmers.

International trade and investment cooperation between China and the Philippines is thriving, and investment cooperation in the digital economy, steel, and high-end manufacturing industries is ongoing. Xu Ningning stated that in the past six years, the number of new contracts signed by China for contracted projects in the Philippines has increased nearly threefold, with an annual scale exceeding 10 billion US dollars. Chinese enterprises actively participate in the construction of engineering projects in the fields of Philippine roads and bridges, ports, power stations, housing, water conservancy, etc. Nearly 40 intergovernmental cooperation projects have been carried out by both parties, of which 17 have been completed by the end of 2022, and more than 20 projects are currently being implemented or promoted.

How to further enhance international trade and economic cooperation between China and the Philippines in the future? Xu Ningning stated that in the face of unfavorable factors such as the current international trade situation turbulence and sluggish world economic growth, enhancing cooperation and fully developing mutual economic and trade complementarity are the inevitable choices for China and the Philippines to jointly address these unfavorable factors and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win development. He suggested:

Firstly, starting from the overall situation, long-term and current needs, we will consolidate and develop the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, and effectively implement the Joint Declaration issued by the two countries on January 5th this year. To develop through cooperation and mutual assistance in political and commercial communication; Consolidate the foundation of good-neighborly friendship and economic cooperation between the two countries through the exchange of people's hearts. The second is to strengthen industrial cooperation between the two countries, pragmatically promote communication on industrial planning and policies, and create a new industrial chain with complementary advantages to drive new development in trade and investment between enterprises in the two countries. We should actively strengthen the docking and cooperation between industry and business associations of the two countries, and innovate and pragmatically carry out the construction of "Two Countries, Two Parks". The third is to enhance cooperation between provinces and cities of the two countries, especially those with friendly relations, leverage the advantages of strong flexibility in cooperation between provinces and cities, and combine local economic characteristics to make bilateral economic and trade cooperation more detailed and practical. Fourthly, seize the business opportunities brought by regional economic integration and implement the RCEP agreement well. We can use platforms such as the China ASEAN Expo to jointly promote regional cooperation. The fifth is to focus on improving the business environment and enhancing the international cooperation capabilities of entrepreneurs from both countries, which is an important condition for expanding trade and investment scale.