China-ASEAN Monitor
Economy, Investment and Trade
Chinese telco to enter Filipino market
(21 November 2017) Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte offered Premier Li Keqiang the privilege to operate the third telecom carrier in the country. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia disclosed that two of China’s top three telecommunications players have set their sights on entering the Philippine market. The new market entrant will challenge the local industry duopoly of Globe Telecom Incorporated and PLDT Incorporated. The project called Luzan Bypass of the Pacific Light Cable Network which is due to come online in 2019, will provide bandwidth of two terabytes per second which will accommodate the kind of capacity currently offered by the two existing operators.
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China’s top aluminium company looking to move factories to Indonesia
(17 November 2017) China Hongqiao Group Ltd, China’s top producer of aluminium is considering relocating its closed plants to other countries. Hongqiao, the world’s biggest smelter, has been forced to cut capacity to meet President Xi Jinping’s aims to curb oversupply and reduce pollution. Indonesia is looking like the favoured destination for this relocation as the country is already home to other major Chinese metals producers. Mr Zhang, son of Hongqiao’s billionaire and the founder Zhang Shiping said to the interviewers that the plan to mull over moving its factories to Indonesia “would be in line with the Chinese government’s push on overseas expansion”.
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China attempts to impress Singapore in bid for High-Speed Rail project
(17 November 2017) China has shifted its efforts to court Singapore for the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project into high gear by hosting a day long symposium. China’s National Development and Reform Coalition vice-chairman of Ning Jizhe spent about 15 minutes explaining the benefits of engaging Chinese expertise on HSR ventures. China has the world’s fastest and longest HSR system and Mr. Ning said China can bring its technical know-how to the project.
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Chinese business delegates bullish on Cambodia
(22 November 2017) Bilateral trade between Cambodia and China’s Fujian province for the first nine months of this year amounted to U$180 million. Additionally, businesses from the southeastern Chinese province invested a total of U$380 million into 18 different Cambodian projects across sectors including agriculture, livestock, garment and tourism. Delegates gathered at the Cambodia-Fujian Business and Tourism seminar in Phnom Penh to discuss opportunities for investment in Cambodia through increased trade in both the energy and garment sectors.
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China, ASEAN, UNDP launch report on ways to finance SDGs
(17 November 2017) A collaborative report by ASEAN, China and UNDP, titled “ASEAN-China-UNDP Report on Financing the SDGs in ASEAN: Strengthening Integrated National Financing Frameworks to Deliver the 2030 Agenda” was released on 17 November. The report focuses on streamlining development financing and strengthening domestic resource mobilisation in the 10 ASEAN nations to finance national development while also highlighting China’s growing role in financing projects in the region.
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