PH-China economic relations seen to remain unaffected by territorial disputes

MANILA, Philippines—Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has expressed confidence that the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China would not hurt the economic ties between the two countries.

Purisima said the relationship of any two countries, in general, had several dimensions and that geopolitical conflicts should not necessarily affect economic relations.

“It [the relationship between China and the Philippines] is not a one-dimensional relationship. This is what we have to keep in mind,” he said in an economic forum.

The finance chief noted that trade between the two countries had been growing and the trend was expected to continue.

Last year, despite the escalation of the territorial dispute over the West Philippine Sea, China remained one of the biggest trading partners of the Philippines.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that Philippine exports to China in December last year hit $746.82 million, up year on year by 79 percent. With that amount, China landed as the third-biggest export market for Philippine-made goods during the month next to Japan.

Goods imported by the Philippines from China reached $671.12 million in November, up year on year by 14.6 percent. China remains the Philippines’ biggest source of imports during the month.

Purisima said the geopolitical tension between the Philippines and China should not be a cause for concern that economic relations between the two could deteriorate.

“For instance, China and Taiwan are, in fact, practically at war but they continue to trade [with each other],” the finance official said.

On tourism, Purisima said China served as one of the biggest sources of foreign visitors to the Philippines and that many Filipinos continued to go to China for vacation.

He said the economic relationship between the two countries was not expected to turn sour because they were both benefiting from it.

“Trade (provides) a win-win situation. Maintaining the economic relationship is what should prevail,” Purisima added.

He said intra-regional trade of Asia-Pacific countries had consistently increased over the years, and the growth of the Philippines’ trade with the rest of the region was being led by the increase in its bilateral trade with China.