By H.E. Jing Quan

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of the Philippines

Distinguished guests, business leaders, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good morning!

It’s a great pleasure for me to visit the beautiful "City of Smiles", Bacolod City, and attend the 35th Visayas Area Business Conference. I’m very happy to have this opportunity to exchange views with you on "Deepening China-Philippines Friendship: Unlocking the Potential of Trade, Tourism, and Technology in the Visayas."

I’ve been in the Philippines for over five months now. It’s been busy, but what sticks with me isn’t the schedule. It’s the people. Ordinary Filipinos are warm, sincere, and kind. Over the past five months, I have had three priorities: the first is political dialogue, the second is people-to-people exchange, and the third is trade and economic cooperation.

On the first point: when I arrived here, I found that our two governments had not talked to each other for over a year, because of political tensions and maritime disputes. All official government communication had stopped.

And for the past two years, our embassy had not even had the chance to receive delegations from China. It’s quite unfortunate. I have to change this situation.

People have to meet with each other. People have to sit down, look into each other’s eyes, talk to each other. Sometimes we have differences. That’s quite natural. The U.S. has differences with its allies. We have our differences with our neighboring countries. It’s quite natural. Husband and wife have differences too. So let’s sit down, let’s talk, let’s communicate. We don’t need to convince each other, but we should understand each other. When we understand each other, eventually we may calm down and we may not overreact. That’s the value.

So with our strong efforts, finally, the two sides agreed to resume political dialogue. From January to March, we already had three rounds of political dialogue, from Director General level, to Assistant Secretary level, to Under Secretary level. Now we’re preparing for the next round of dialogue at the Secretary level.

We call this a road map. I hope that each month we have one important political dialogue, until the end of this year. When we resume political dialogue, we send a very strong signal to other areas — education, culture, trade, tourism. Let them know, now it’s time to talk. Now it’s time to visit. Now it’s time to meet each other. It sends the right political message. That’s the value.

That’s the first part. The second part is people-to-people exchange. I always say, people-to-people exchange — that’s the foundation of our relations. We should encourage people to visit each other. When people visit each other, you don’t need to educate them. You don’t need to teach them. They will have their own story, with their own eyes, with their own ears.

Because of the visa-free policy issued by the Philippine government in January, more and more Chinese tourists are coming back. From January to April, a total of 145,000 Chinese tourists came back, an increase of 61% compared to last year. And last year, over 1 million Filipino tourists visited China. And more and more Filipino people are visiting China now. That’s very big progress.

Before COVID, every year, we had 3 million people-to-people exchanges. But that number dropped dramatically. And this year, we hope that we can increase the number.

When we have more and more tourists but not enough direct flights, how can we cope? In February, I visited Cebu, and the people there asked me if I could help resume the direct flight between Cebu and Fujian. Because many Filipino-Chinese originally come from Fujian. When they come back to Fujian, they have to go to Manila, stop in Manila, and then go to Fujian. They were really eager to resume the direct flight.

Back to Manila, I worked very hard on this issue. I talked to the Civil Aviation Administration in Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, the Fujian provincial government, and Xiamen Airlines. And finally, we persuaded them, and reopened the direct flight between Cebu and Fujian on 29th March. And after that, we launched the direct flight between Chongqing and Manila. And this month, we will have another new direct flight between Hangzhou and Manila, and a newly launched direct flight between Chongqing and Manila. And now, we’re looking for maybe another direct flight between Davao and Shanghai, and between Haikou and Manila.

Why? Because the whole province of Hainan is a duty-free zone. And it offers 30-day visa-free entry for Filipino citizens. If you have a direct flight to Hainan, you can enjoy duty-free shopping and visa-free entry. That’s what we hope.

More and more people-to-people exchanges, more and more direct flights. And people visit each other more, and they feel more confident, and we feel more confident. And eventually, the political atmosphere will change. That kind of confrontational public opinion toward each other will change. And eventually, we’ll reduce misunderstanding, and reduce that kind of misperception. We’ll see each other more like friends, not a rival, not an enemy.

That’s the second part. The third part is trade and economic development. Here in the Philippines, you see many businessmen, especially Chinese enterprises. Ask them, how’s your business? Over 90% agree. They feel very, very confident. They feel there’s a great potential for us to continue to deepen our trade and economic development.

And recently, because of the energy crisis, more and more people from the local community have come to see us. They ask us: can the embassy help us buy more EV parts from China? Not just BYD. BYD sells very well here. Last year, we sold around 25,000 units. And this year, their expectation is 60,000. And they could become the top two. But not just BYD. Many people want to buy more EV products, like electric buses, electric bicycles, and all kinds of EV parts, even to replace the Jeepney.

Our embassy is trying to help connect you with companies in China. Our embassy is just like a bridge. We are the government’s representative here. If there’s any opportunity, we would like to help make the connection. And when we introduce your company to Chinese companies, to Chinese governments, they trust us. They know they were introduced by the Chinese embassy. They have true trust in us. That’s the best thing. When you directly approach them, they don’t know your background. That’s why the embassy is a good channel for you to do business with China.

As for clean energy, yesterday I made a special visit to a solar power project here in Bacolod built by a Chinese enterprise. Its scale was impressive. Whether solar, wind or hydropower, the scope for China–Philippines cooperation in clean energy is very broad.

And we have a technology called waste-to-energy. That means collecting garbage and burning it to generate power. It’s a very mature technology in China, and we have used it for more than 10 years. There’s a very big company in Shanghai named SUS. They’re very good in this area. Our technology is much better than U.S. and Japanese technology. Recently, we have been communicating with the relevant agencies in Manila to try to bring Chinese technology here. They told us that just one factory in Manila could handle over 10,000 tons of garbage each day. And each year, it could generate over 2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. Currently, electricity prices in Manila are three times those in Beijing — very expensive. If we work together, we can help the local economy, because in many places, they still rely on landfills to handle their garbage and waste. If we work together, that’s a typical example of mutually beneficial cooperation.

There’s also agriculture. Last year, at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), three durian exporters from Davao signed an agreement with China to sell their durian to China. Just one contract — do you know how much? One contract, 36.6 million U.S. dollars. In China, nowadays, we have 400 million middle-class people. That number can grow up to 800 million in just a few years. That means a huge market. If they like the food, if they like the agricultural products from our neighboring countries, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, if you can seize the opportunity, you will sell more to China.

In February, I visited Baguio. We also visited a farm. I met with a local farmer there. Last year, he went to China, to Shandong province, because Shandong has very good agricultural technology. He attended a training class. When he came back, he used the technology he learned in China to grow strawberries. That’s a small thing. But that’s a good example to show where we should work — training, technology transfer.

For the past 10 years, China has been the Philippines’ largest trading partner, and also its largest source of imports. Almost a quarter of Philippine imports come from China. What I really care about is how to bring China’s technology here directly.

Now, we have AI technology. Digital economy. Digital life. For over 10 years, Chinese people have rarely used cash. Not even credit cards. Everything is done by mobile phone. Recently, I attended a ceremony in Manila. At the Chinese General Hospital, they purchased a surgical robot from China. It’s not big. Just one robot. It can do the surgery. Very advanced. The first of its kind used in the Asia-Pacific region. That’s also one example to show how we can work together in medical equipment and devices.

There are so many areas like this, actually. When we have the technology, we directly bring it here. You don’t need to spend time and money finding scientists for those projects. You just use it. And we like to share. This is what we call a community with a shared future for mankind.

To put it very simply, if we have a better life, we also want our neighbors to have a better life. Because we see this world as a village. We’re all members of the village. We’re all neighbors. If we become rich, we want to share with you. If we have better technology, a better life, we want to share that with you. That’s our philosophy. That’s China’s philosophy. That’s President Xi Jinping’s idea.

So whether it’s poverty alleviation, AI, agriculture, clean energy, digital life, or the digital economy, these are all areas where we can work together.

Recently, the conflict in Iran directly led to an energy crisis here — not just in the Philippines, but in many other places and countries. So people have started to talk about one idea — the joint development of gas and oil in those disputed waters. Remember, in 2018, China and the Philippines already signed an MOU on this idea, joint gas and oil development. But, because of legal issues, political tensions, and maritime disputes, it just stopped there. So sometimes I think, if we had started then, by now we might already be benefiting from our cooperation. But it’s still not too late. As the President said publicly in an interview, it may be time to think about this issue. Recently, officials from both sides restarted discussions on this issue. Some scholars told me that if we start today, it’s still not too late — maybe in three or four years, we could have the first barrel of oil. We should not just keep waiting, debating, and pointing fingers at each other.

China has maritime disputes not just with the Philippines. We have border and territorial disputes with India, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia. And the Philippines has also had disputes with Vietnam and Malaysia. But why have our disputes become so prominent? With other countries, we did a lot of negotiating, managed to keep things under control, put our differences aside, and focused on cooperation and joint development. Why not do the same? Sometimes we wait, and the time easily passes. And after several years, we’re still in the same place. Look at other countries — those who seize opportunities, building high-speed rail networks with China’s help, developing tourism rapidly, have achieved economic take-off. Endless argument only squanders precious time and opportunity. Setting differences aside, maintaining the status quo, and advancing joint development is the pragmatic path.

Some people always talk about whether our policy should be pro-U.S. or pro-China. Our view is China’s friends could be U.S. friends. U.S. friends could be China’s friends. This is not a zero-sum game. This is supposed to be a win-win relationship.

Look at other countries — Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore — they all have good relations with both China and the U.S. at the same time. The Philippines is a traditional, strong ally of the U.S. Thailand is also a strong ally of the U.S. Thailand also has good relations with both China and the U.S. So some people say we should be either pro-U.S. or pro-China. My suggestion is, why not talk about being pro-Philippines, pro-yourself instead. You should make any decision based on your own fundamental interests, based on the needs of the Filipino people. If you take a balanced diplomatic approach, you can have good relations with both China and the U.S. And you can benefit a lot from your relations with those major countries, and never become a battlefield for strategic competition among major countries. And never become a victim of that kind of game. Never be forced to take sides between major countries. Never be pushed to the front line for that kind of strategic competition.

Recently, the leaders of China and the United States met successfully. President Trump visited China and met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 14 and 15. They now have a new definition for China-U.S. relations — constructive strategic stability. The two countries seek cooperation, but they do not avoid competition. That competition should be healthy competition. It’s like a marathon race. Who will be the first? Who will be the champion? Who will be faster? Who will be stronger? But it’s not like boxing. It’s not like a UFC fight, with people grappling on the floor, choking each other. No, that’s zero-sum. Stable China–US relations will make other countries feel more at ease, and will help all parties manage their own bilateral relations with both.

As ambassador, my job is to stabilize the relations. Making them better, not worse. My job is to bring the two peoples closer together, not let them drift further apart. My job is to create more opportunities for you and the business community, and to serve as a platform and channel for you to work even more closely with China, to explore and seek more opportunities to do business with each other, and to bring more benefits to our two peoples.

Our door is always open to you. If you ever have any good ideas or proposals, please do not hesitate to come and see us. Let’s sit down, let’s talk, let’s find some real opportunities to deepen our mutual understanding, to strengthen our mutually beneficial cooperation. Let’s continue our 1,000-year friendship and exchange. Let’s work together even more closely to make a better future, and bring more benefits to both our peoples.

Thank you.