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By Antonio Colina IV
DAVAO CITY – Expect more Chinese tourists to flock Davao City, declared Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi
(DFA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Wang, who thanked President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio for opening the city’s “gate to China,” said setting up a Consulate General in Davao will boost subnational interactions between the two countries and highlighted Davao as a “pioneer and shining example.”
“I believe more Chinese visitors will come to Davao to enhance the friendship between our two people’s and contribute to the development of this city and the Southern Philippines,” he said during the inauguration of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China on Sunday.
On the same day, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Group launched a direct Davao-Hong Kong flights four times a week.
XiamenAir is also expected to start flights between this city and Jinjiang thrice a week starting in December.
China’s top diplomat said Davao has become one of the cities in the Philippines with “closest interactions with China.”
City Tourism Office (CTO) recorded a total of 3,957 Chinese tourists, the third highest next to Americans (8,851) and Japanese (4,951) from January to May this year.
Davao has been visited by Chinese military aircraft and Chinese research/survey vessels Yuan Wang 3 and Yuan Wang 7 this year. Crew members were also taken on an excursion in some places around the city.
“Setting up a consulate general in Davao reflects the deepening of the friendship between China and the Philippines and serves the all-around closeness of our cooperation,” he said.
He said the decision of the Chinese government to establish a Consulate General in Davao “speaks volumes of our full confidence in the city’s future.”
Wang said China’s relationship with the Philippines has been fully realized under the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte who served as mayor of Davao for 22 years.
“Well governed by President Duterte for years, Davao has enjoyed political stability, social harmony, prospering growth, and a promising future becoming one of the most tranquil cities in the Philippines. Since taking over the baton from President Duterte, Mayor Sara has worked with strong determination and pioneering spirit,” he said.
Newly-installed Foreign Affairs secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin said the Philippines has always been a friend of China.
“Being the biggest Philippine city in terms of land area, third largest in terms of population, the inauguration of the Chinese consulate here in Davao is an auspicious sign of the city’s promise and the bright prospects for our engagement with China,” he said.
On the opening of a Consulate General, Locsin said: “May this be a continued testament to an even more real friendship, to a robust and interconnected relationship, and to sustained interactions between the Philippines and China as we promote our common goals to the mutual benefit of both our great nations.”
Officials from both countries are expected to discuss ways to further advance PH-China relations through cooperation in various areas such as trade, investments, infrastructure, tourism, agriculture, education, science and technology, anti-terrorism anti-narcotics and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
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