The Official Website of the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou, China

GUANGZHOU KEEN TO PARTNER WITH PHL FIRMS ON ELECTRIC CARS, CREATIVES AND SERVICES

(Guangzhou, 10 August 2022) – China’s fourth largest city economy is keen to partner with Filipino firms in various sectors, particularly electric vehicles, creative industries, and services.

This was highlighted during a meeting this week between Philippine Consul General to Guangzhou Marshall Louis Alferez and Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau Director General Hong Qian.

“It was very encouraging to hear from the Guangzhou side that their companies are looking to develop new business relationships with Filipino counterparts. They mentioned that while Guangzhou had very good ‘hardware’, its ‘software’ could still use improvement to international standards that could be learned from Filipino partners, especially in creative industries like animation and design, and in service industries”, Consul General Alferez said.

“The city is also a major player in China’s huge electric vehicle industry, with major brands like GAC and XiaoPeng based there. They are interested in tapping the Philippine market, and recognize the huge importance of our country’s vast nickel reserves to the global electric vehicle industry. This specific interest opens the possibility for investments in mineral processing and even battery manufacturing”, he added.

Consul General also noted that Guangzhou is one of China’s largest importer of food brands. “There is a huge opportunity for Filipino food exporters to sell their products in Guangzhou. The local population is always eager to try foreign flavors. They are already very fond of our bananas, pineapples, canned tuna and even Potato Corner fries, but we still see potential for our coffee, cacao and seafood exporters”, he explained.

The two officials agreed to continue discussions on specific collaborative activities to be pursued in the near term, particularly in raising awareness of the trade and investment rules in both the Philippines and Guangzhou, as well as developing closer working ties between the local branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou is the capital of southern China’s Guangdong Province, which is the country’s largest province in terms of economy and population. Around 40% of the Philippines’ USD 38 Billion trade with China passes through Guangdong Province, and most of it through the Nansha port in Guangzhou. The city economy itself was valued at USD 482.42 Billion in 2021, with both its import and export figures each breaching USD 148.37 Billion in the same year. And while the city of 15 million has topped Forbes Magazine’s “China’s Best Places for Business List” five times, Guangzhou has also demonstrated an appetite for investing abroad, with its outbound investment exceeding USD 2.3 Billion in 2021, an increase of 178.6%. Major Guangzhou companies with investments in the Philippines include GAC, Fekon Motorcycles and Trinx Bicycles.

Guangzhou and the City of Manila are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their sister-city relationship this year. (END)

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FILIPINO BOOK DONATION AND ART EXHIBIT AT THE GUANGZHOU LIBRARY UNDERSCORE DEPTH OF PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND CHINA

(Guangzhou, 1 August 2022) – As part of the 25th year anniversary of the establishment of the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou and in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Adarna House, ARTPOSTASIA, and HABI, Consul General Marshall Louis M. Alferez facilitated the donation of a total of 145 Filipino books to the Guangzhou Library.

“With this book donation, the Philippines signals its keen desire to foster deeper understanding between the Philippines and China, particularly among the people in Guangdong”, remarked Consul General Alferez. The collection of books had a variety of subjects, including on the Philippines’ language and literature, culture and the arts, history, geography and culinary arts, as well as Filipino myths and children’s reading materials.

To complement the book donation project, the Philippine Consulate General also jointly organized with Guangzhou Library and the Philippine Tourism Office based in Shanghai a month-long art exhibition featuring selected paintings of the founding and honorary members of FilEstilo, a group of Filipino visual artists based in Guangdong. Entitled Flourishing Friendship, 21 nature-themed works of art were displayed depicting the warm interplay of friendship, kinship and partnership that transformed the Philippines-China relations over the years. The exhibit will help the huge Guangzhou Library clientele get a glimpse of the Filipino’s cultural sentimentality and soulful expression through the colors and brushes of the artists.

Aside from the art exhibit, Guangdong-based Filipino artist Mr. Marvic Gile, will be holding a watercolor painting workshop to library visitors on 13 August 2022, and perform charcoal sketches on 20 and 21 August 2022.

Apart from being an architectural wonder, the Guangzhou Library is considered one of the top public libraries in the world. Built in 2013, the library’s total collection has reached 10.68 million volumes and its total floor area is 98,000 square meters. In 2020, the library had nearly 2.4 million visits in a year, roughly around 9,000 a day. (END)