H.E. Vice President Noli De Castro,
Hon.Sec.Guo Shengkun
Hon.Vice President Li Jinzao of Guang Xi
Dear Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Afternoon.
As a Chinese proverb says, the whole year's work depends on a good start in spring. When the flowers start to blossom in this beautiful season of spring in China, a delegation composed of government officials and businessmen from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, headed by Secretary Guo Shengkun and Vice Chairman Li Jinzao come to the Philippines, solemnly convene the Guangxi-Philippines Trade and Economic Cooperation Promotion Conference and sow the hope for further development and cooperation. First of all, on behalf of the Embassy of China in the Philippines, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Conference, sincere thanks and respects to Your Excellency Vice President Noli De Castro for your presence, and warm welcome to the leaders and officials from Guangxi and relevant government authorities of the Philippines as well as business communities of both sides.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China and the Philippines are friendly neighbors facing each other across the sea, and the two peoples enjoy long-standing traditional friendship. In recent years, the bilateral economic and trade cooperation rapidly developed, while the personnel exchanges gradually flourished. According to the statistics of Chinese Customs, the bilateral trade volume of 2007 between our two countries amounted to 30.6 billion US dollars, which accomplished the 30 billion US dollars trade target in 2010 set by both Chinese and Philippine Presidents three years ahead of schedule. China has now become the fourth largest meanwhile, the fastest growing source of tourist arrivals for the Philippines, with 157,000 tourists from mainland China in 2007. The healthy and smooth development of economic and trade relations between China and the Philippines has brought and will continue to bring solid and tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries.
Guangxi is the closest Chinese province to ASEAN both by sea and land. The annual China-ASEAN Expo, together with the Business and Investment Summit in Guangxi has emerged as a significant platform for regional cooperation and exchanges. Recently, Guangxi has proposed the concept of Pan-Beibu Gulf Cooperation, winning consensus among relevant countries in the Pan-Beibu Gulf region. As an important ASEAN member, the Philippines has also achieved remarkable progress in social and economic development in recent years. The GDP of the Philippines expanded by 7.3% in 2007, which ranked the strongest in 31 years and one of the fastest in Asia.
Guangxi and the Philippines are geographically close to each other and share lots of similarities. Both sides have great potential in cooperation in various sectors, such as agriculture, fishery, infrastructure, machinery, tourism, etc. The leaders of Guangxi are frequent visitors to the Philippines. Especially this time, Secretary Guo and Vice Governor Li have brought an unprecedented large delegation, including the outstanding businessmen in Guangxi to the Philippines for pragmatic cooperation. It shows clearly the sincerity and determination of the people of Guangxi to further develop the trade and economic cooperation with the Philippines. Meanwhile, the presence of H.E. Vice President Noli De Castro will also greatly boost the confidence of the both sides for further cooperation. I believe that, through the Conference today, the business communities of both sides will deepen mutual understanding, seek business opportunities and work shoulder to shoulder for a new chapter of win-win cooperation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Peace and development is an irresistible historical trend. The currently stable situation and fast growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region has brought China and the Philippines a precious opportunity for cooperation and internal development. We should highly treasure as well as maintain and make full use of the historical opportunity. The Chinese Government adheres to the diplomatic guidelines of friendship and partnership with neighboring countries and the policy to build an amicable, tranquil and prosperous neighborhood in the region. The development process of China-Philippines relations demonstrates that we can embrace a common brighter future only when mutual trust and benefit is achieved and harmonious status is established. I believe, with the joint efforts of the two governments and the peoples, the economic and trade cooperation between China and the Philippines will have an even brighter and more harmonious future.
Lastly, I wish the Guangxi-Philippines Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference a great success and all of you enjoy good health and prosperous business.
Mabuhay!
Salamatpo!