BEIJING—Most Filipinos probably have no idea about the ancient city of Xi’an unless they have read about or watched documentaries on the Terracotta Warriors, the renowned underground sculptures of soldiers of a Chinese emperor.
Xi’an used to be the seat of power of China, from its first unified Chinese empire—the Qin Dynasty, whose emperors were entombed in an impressive complex together with their soldiers. Aside from its archaeological wonder, the terracotta warriors are stark reminders of how important China was in ancient history, at the crossroads of people from Central Asia and the Middle East.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping had a grander vision of bringing China back to its glorious ancient past. In 2013, Xi boldly embarked on an ambitious project called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with Xi’an City and its financial capital of Shanghai City as one of its hubs.
Under the BRI, China will link East Asia to Europe, Africa and even Latin America with physical infrastructures such as railways, highways energy pipelines, and even seaports. It is also a way for the world to promote Chinese technology as well as generate jobs for its people. China said this project is a “win-win” solution for other countries in their infrastructure and development initiatives.
The Philippines, especially during the administration of President Duterte, became one of the countries which shared Xi’s dream under the BRI.
Shaangu Group
ONE of the Chinese state enterprises which embarked on projects under the BRI is the Shaangu Blower Group Ltd. (Shaangu Group), based in Xi’an.
Shaangu Group provided energy, manufacturing and industrial solutions with products and services that are widely used in the petroleum, chemical industry, power industry, subway, environment protection and pharmaceutical sectors. In a briefing to visiting Filipino journalists, Shaangu Group said its products and services have already reached more than 100 countries worldwide.
In the Philippines, Shaangu Group said it has a $3.5-billion project together with another Chinese company, Panhua Integrated Steel Inc.
The project in Sarangani province in Mindanao aims to build a comprehensive steel industrial park with an annual output of 10 million tons and a seaport terminal with 2.5 kilometers of shoreline and 300,000 tons of berths.
The two Chinese companies are hoping that the steel slabs to be produced in Sarangani would help supply the government infrastructure projects in the Philippines.
Li Hong’an, chairman of the board of Shaangu, told the BusinessMirror he hopes that this investment would pave the way for more projects in the Philippines under the BRI.
Oishi in China
A LOT of Filipinos grew up eating the famous Oishi Prawn Crackers and Kirei Yummy Flakes and, like me, are probably not aware that it is a Filipino brand.
In 1984, when China opened up its economy to the world, Oishi’s patriarch, Filipino-Chinese businessman Carlos Chan, jumped on the bandwagon and risked entering the highly competitive snacking industry. With two state-owned Chinese firms as partners, Chan opened Oishi’s first overseas manufacturing plant in Pudong, Shanghai. After more than 20 years, it has expanded its operations throughout the mainland with plants in Helongjiang, Hubei, Tianjin, Hebei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong and Xinjiang.
Larry Chan, son of Carlos Chan and chairman of Liwayway (Global) Co. Ltd., said they benefited most from their early exposure to China’s market.
“Our presence in China, including the infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative, has allowed us to look into other markets such as South Africa and most recently in Uzbekistan and Bangladesh,” Chan told visiting Filipino journalists.
With their foothold in South Africa, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh, Oishi was able to expand further to African, South Asian and Central Asian markets.
Chan said their overseas expansion outside China started when they joined the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. At that time, the deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan was also a guest of the CIIE and became very interested at Oishi.
“This is a very good example of how companies and societies benefit from openness, mutual collaboration and inclusiveness. The BRI, for me personally, is a very good example of openness and inclusiveness,” Chan said.
He said the BRI was initially conceptualized as a massive investment infrastructure endeavor but when it was launched, President Xi expanded to technology sharing and fund-setting to support countries joining the initiative.
“So there’s a lot of social aspect to it. It’s not just infrastructure projects. That’s the real key. I think it is based on China’s experience that infrastructure promotes social development,” he said.
Image credits: Malou Talosig-Bartolome