BEIJING, China (UPDATED) – President Rodrigo Duterte and the large business delegation that accompanied him to China may be bringing home around $24 billion worth of deals, said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

“Based on the numbers we are putting together now, in terms of investments, credit facilities opened, $24 billion,” Lopez told reporters on Friday, October 21, at a Beijing hotel.

The number is an increase from the $13.5 billion in deals he had announced Thursday night during a Philippines-China trade and investment forum. 

Of the $24 billion, $15 billion accounts for company-to-company deals, while $9 billion pertains to loans from credit facilities to be made available to businesses, development projects, and infrastructure, among others.

The deals involved “cut across different industries – agriculture, energy, renewable energy, tourism, food, manufacturing, telecommunications, and infrastructure,” said Lopez.

The deals are expected to generate two million jobs, according to Department of Trade and Industry estimates. 

That number is set to increase over 5 years, said Lopez.

‘Opening a faucet’

Based on the worth of the deals to be signed and the kind of welcome Duterte received from Chinese officials and businessmen, Lopez described the President’s state visit as “highly successful.”

“In renewing this friendship and economic relationship, it’s like opening a faucet,” Lopez added.

He cited the Chinese government’s announcement that it would lift the travel advisory cautioning Chinese tourists traveling to the Philippines.

This move could lead to the significant increase of Chinese tourist arrivals in the Philippines, a country which has not been able to attract as many Chinese tourists as other Southeast Asian countries.  

“From the current 500,000 tourists, we now expect it  easily to double or triple in one year or two years so we will need more hotels, more tourism structures, airports, seaports,” said Lopez.

Duterte is on the final day of his China state visit Friday. The majority of deals will be signed on this day.

Partial list

Below is a list of deals worth around $3 billion. These deals were set to be signed on Friday, according to PCCI President George Barcelon. The list includes the Philippine and Chinese companies involved as well as the project’s worth.

Partial list of deals:

• Memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Columbus Capitana and China CAMCE Engineering Co., Ltd. involving joint projects in renewable energy, major infrastructure and real estate ($100 million)
• Strategic Cooperation Agreemnet to infuse $200 million to build a Generation Steel Mill Plant (Mannage Resources Tradign Corp and SIIC Shanghai International Trade Hongkong)
• MOU to invest about $500-700 million to construct  a steel plant (Global Ferronickel and Baiyin International Investment Ltd) 
• MOU to jointly pursue development and construction of renewable energy products in various locations (Trademaster Resources Corp,  Servequest Inc. and TBEA Xinjing Sunoasis Co., Ltd worth $97 million US dollars)
• MOU involving Davao Coastline and Port Development Project (Mega Harbour Port and Development, Inc and China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd, worth $780 million) 
• MOU involving Manila Harbour Center Reclamation Project (R-II Builders and China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd, worth $148 million)
• MOU involving Cebu International and Bulk Terminal Project ( Mega Harbour Port and Development Inc, and CCCC Dredging Co., worth $328 million) 
• MOU worth $2.5 billion (MVP Global Infrastructure and China Railway Engineering Corp) 
• MOU to invest $ 3 billion to build cabling manufacturing facilities (MVP Global Infrastructure and Suli Group)
• MOU to develop Manila EDSA Bus Transportation program and for other places with initial investmenf of $100 million (Philippine State Group of Companies and Yangtse Motor Group and Minmetals International (H.K) Ltd.)
• Cooperation agreement to invest $160 million to produce hybrid rice enough to plant in 2 million ha of rice fields (SL Agritech and Jiangsu Hongqi Seed Co., Ltd)
• Letter of Intent (LOI) to invest $300 million to build a manufacturing facility (Zhuhai Granton Bus and Coach Company) 
• MOU to invest $100 million in Banana Plantation (AVLB Asia Pacific Conglomerate Inc. and Shanghai Xinwo Agriculture Development Co., Ltd) 
• MOA on development of 300 MW Pulangi-5 Hydro Project (Greenergy Developemtn Corp and Powerchina Guizhou Engineering Corp., worth $1 billion)
• MOU on Pasig River, Marikina River, Manggahan Floodway Bridges Construction Project (Zonar Construct and SinoHydro, worth $600 million) 
• Ambal Simuan Sub-River Basin of the Mindanao River Basin Flood Control Project (One White Beach Land Development Corporation and Sino Hydro, worth $325 million) 
• Nationwide Island Provinces Link Bridges for Sustainable Development (Zonarsystems Solutions Inc and Powerchina Sinohydro, worth $800 million)

– Rappler.com