China is planning to import more Philippine fruits, such as mangosteen, durian and frozen coconut meat and expects collaboration in the electric vehicle sector, according to the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines.

In a speech at the 48th Philippine Business Conference & Expo, Ambassador Huang Xilian of the People’s Republic of China to the Philippines said that based on President Marcos policy vision, China and the Philippines are exploring cooperation in four key areas, namely, agriculture. infrastructure, energy and people to people exchange.

In the field of agriculture, Xilian said, “We encourage more Philippine agricultural products including durian mangosteen and frozen coconut meat to enter the Chinese market.”

Both countries can complement in agriculture because Philippines has advantages in tropical agriculture and China has rich experience in agricultural science and technology.

“China can provide technology and equipment for agriculture development of the Philippines,” the Ambassador said during the PBC plenary on China-Philippine Economic Relations.

“We can focus on the Philippine Sino Center for Agricultural Technology phase 4 to help the Philippines increase the agricultural production and enhance resilience to climate change,” he added.

In the field of energy, the ambassador said cooperation is highly expected from both sides following the passage of the Philippines’ Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act.

He noted that China has seen rapid development of a new energy vehicle manufacturing industry having established as the world’s largest carbon emissions trading market and clean power generation system.

China has become the world's largest producer of New Energy vehicles, the production of which in 2021 reached 2.29 million units, accounting for 57.4 percent of global total.

China also ranked first in the world in terms of stored generation capacity of hydropower, wind power, solar PV and the capacity of nuclear power under construction.

“The Philippines has abundant reserves, thermal wage and other renewable energy resources. We can strengthen cooperation on new energy,” he added.

In a field of infrastructure, the ambassador said that China and the Philippines have reached agreements with nearly 40 government to government projects over that past six years.

“China is ready to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and Build Better More programs and continue to support the Philippines in building roads, bridges, railway and water facilities,” he added.

In digital infrastructure, China’s ambassador said that China has built the world's largest 5g networks and optical fiber network.

He claimed that China’s total 5g base stations account for more than 60 percent of the global total and that the new tech sectors are profoundly changing the new way of life of the Chinese people.

With that, he said that China is ready for a new infrastructure cooperation with the Philippines including Big Data Cloud computing, AI, and Internet of Things.

China has been Philippines largest trading partner for six consecutive years and the major source of investments between the two countries.

In 2021, bilateral trade between our two countries reached 82 billion US dollars and the Chinese mainland Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, jointly account for almost 33 percent. Philippine exports

in the first seven months of this year, bilateral trade increased by 12.7 percent higher than the average increase of China's foreign trade and that between China and ASEAN.