The textile industry is bleeding and the current economic slowdown has compounded the woes of scores of textile factory mill owners spread across the country. India Today visited Rajasthan's Bhilwara, known as the textile hub of the country, to understand what has been plaguing this once flourishing sector of the Indian economy. The Indian textile industry currently provides direct and indirect employment to more than nine crore people. It also accounts for 2 per cent of the GDP, which is why the slowdown in the industry, leading to a fall in production and job losses has made the situation extremely grim. "In Bhilwara, the situation of textile is not good. A lot of slowdown is going on. Our production has gone down by 15 to 20 per cent. We often keep holidays on Saturdays and Sundays, do not operate the industry. Conditions are not good," Sanjay Periwal, president of Synthetic Weaving Mills Association, said. The textile industry has been witnessing its worst phase in the last decade or so. Consider the data for textile industry in Rajasthan's Bhilwara:
"Definitely, it has a major impact. The buying capacity of people is not in good conditions. People do not have money to buy cloth. You understand this thing in the manner that a person doing a job for a salary of Rs 20,000 and is given six offs in a month by us, then he is not drawing more than Rs 17,000 to Rs 18,000. In that, he has fixed expenditures. So, he is less interested in buying cloth," Periwal mentioned. "Secondly, the globalisation situation that is there, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and all these countries are giving better facilities than us. The textile clothing from Bangladesh has begun coming to India in huge quantity. So, this must be stopped," he added. There are various reasons attributed to the downfall in the fortunes of textile industry, the major ones include: Exorbitant cost of power, huge influx of cheaper products from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and some other countries. The economic crisis is directly attributed to:
Textile industry has not been able to pick itself up since then and is still reeling under their impact. A job broker Sudip Tahil said, "The situation is turning extremely bad day by day. Our payment is also sinking as factory is shutting down. [If] the party will fail, how will our payment be done?" "I can tell you about the situation right now. We never even used to have the time to talk during this period. We used to sell 3 to 4 lakh metres of cloth in a month. We had good work of readymade. As compared to 4 lakh, not more than around 1 lakh is getting sold. And even the payment situation in the market is not good," Periwal further said.
Source: India Today
For monetary policy, limited fiscal implications from the latest fiscal measures keep the door open for further easing, said Radhika Rao, economist at DBS Group Research. Singapore's banking group DBS has revised India's real GDP growth forecast downwards for the current financial year to 6.2 per cent from 6.8 per cent projected earlier. "Factoring in a weak start to FY20 (June quarter was the first quarter), a return to favourable base effects in 2HFY20, and likelihood of growth returning above 6.5 per cent towards end of the year, we revise down our real GDP growth forecast to 6.2 per cent YoY vs 6.8 per cent previously," said the bank in its report on Monday. The resultant negative output gap will keep inflationary pressures in check. Expecting the trajectory to improve in FY21, the growth is likely to close in on 7 per cent with a 6.8 per cent growth pace, said DBS in the report titled "India: More policy support likely after weak Q2 growth". For monetary policy, limited fiscal implications from the latest fiscal measures keep the door open for further easing, said Radhika Rao, economist at DBS Group Research. "We retain our call for another 15-25 bps cut at the October meeting on the back of a weak 2Q GDP outcome. Odds of further rate cuts are rising as a preference to preserve policy space might be overridden by growth concerns. "We now expect another 15-25 bps rate cut in December. Challenging global conditions and a dovish FOMC add to the case for the RBI to take a growth supportive stance," Rao said. More sector specific supportive measures from the government are expected. Fiscal costs will be kept to a minimum. However, if the slowdown seems entrenched, broader stimulus can be expected next year, said the report. For the markets, worries over fiscal support and new 10-year issuance will put pressure on old 10-year prices. Rest of the curve is likely to ease as rate cut expectations are set to return, thereby steepening the yield curve. The rupee will continue to watch CNY (Chinese Yuan Renminbi) movements and broader US dollar bias, which at this juncture points towards further rupee weakness owing to a weak global environment, according to the report. Real GDP slowed to 5 per cent year-on-year in 2Q (first quarter of FY20) from the first quarter's 5.8 per cent, below DBS' sub-consensus and market expectations.
Source: The Economic Times
Reflecting the slowdown in the economy, collection from Goods and Services Tax (GST) dipped to nearly ₹98,000 crore in August. This is lowest in the current fiscal, however, it was higher than the collection during the same month last year. A Finance Ministry statement released on Sunday informed that collection during the month of August was ₹ 98,202 crore, as against ₹ 1.02 lakh crore in July and ₹ 93,960 crore in August 2018. The dip in collection could be attributed to the slowdown in manufacturing and stagnancy in the services sector. Lower collection could also hit the fiscal deficit as situation on the direct tax front is also not good. Out of the total collection during August, Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) is ₹17,733 crore, State Goods & Services Tax (SGST) is ₹24,239crore, Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) is ₹48,958crore (including ₹24,818crore collected on imports) and cess is ₹7,273 crore (including ₹841crore collected on imports). The total number of GSTR 3B-Returns filed for the month of July up to August 31, is 75.80 lakh. The government has settled ₹23,165 crore to CGST and ₹16,623 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of August, 2019, is ₹40,898 crore for CGST and ₹40,862 crore for the SGST. Revenue growth The revenue in August shows growth of 4.51 per cent over the revenue in the same month last year. During April-August, 2019 vis-à-vis 2018, the domestic component has grown by 9.11 per cent, while the GST on imports has come down by 1.43 per cent and the total collection has grown by 6.38 per cent. The due date of filing returns was extended by a month in 58 districts in 7 states due to floods last month. The Government also said that ₹ 27,955 crore has been released to the states as GST compensation for the months of June-July, 2019.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Singapore is supportive of India being part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as it views Asia’s third largest economy as a stabilizing factor, K. Shanmugam, Singapore’s minister for law and home affairs, said at an event in New Delhi late on Saturday. Shanmugam’s comment during a lecture on “Developments with Strategic Implications—Views from Southeast Asia" comes ahead of a key round of talks on the finalization of the mega trade deal this month in Bangkok. The countries working towards finalizing RCEP comprise a quarter of global gross domestic product, 30% of global trade, 26% of foreign direct investment flows, and 45% of the world’s population. The Bangkok meet this month hopes to narrow differences in the deal that has been in the making since 2012.
India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal did not attend a ministerial meet in China last month against the backdrop of Indian concerns of cheaper imports from China overwhelming India’s manufacturing sector, if India joins the grouping. India’s trade deficit with China in 2018 was more than $60 billion. Representatives of iron and steel, dairy, textiles, marine products, electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastic industries have been the most vocal against the trade deal. Shanmugham clarified that some others in the proposed grouping that intends to bring together the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and their six free trade agreement (FTA) partners: China, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan do not hold the same view as Singapore. However, with the centre of economic gravity likely to shift to the Asia-Pacific region, India not being part of RCEP could leave the country at a disadvantage, he said. “I think, so far, the view points across Asean...there are countries that would prefer India to be in and there are countries that would actually prefer India not to be in," Shanmugham said but did not name the countries opposed to India joining the proposed grouping. “When they don’t want India to be in, that’s (for) a mix of economic and other reasons. We have thought that it’s much better to have everyone in but that is not necessarily because we are hoping to exploit the huge Indian market. We are very small so our ability to exploit these things is not that significant," he said. “We look at it strategically, at how things can be stabilized and India’s presence is always a stabilizing factor and it is useful to have everyone in and everyone has a stake," he said. “It is not a universally held view that India has to be brought in," Shanmugham said. On India’s worries on the trade deficit front if it joins the RCEP, Shanmugam said: “Imagine a situation where this huge market I talked about—Asean at $2.8 trillion dollars growing at about 5%, some are growing even faster, China at $14 trillion growing on at 5-6%, Japan at $ 4 trillion dollars, South Korea—all in a free trade agreement and you are not in it. What do you think your position will be? It’s very stark. Unless you think that in this interconnected world you can do it all by yourself, because then you will be at a disadvantage, when you are dealing with the centre of gravity of the next 50 years. The centre of economic gravity is going to be the Pacific, the west coast of the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Asean."
“India is either part of it or not part of it. To me it looks important that countries are plugged in to the Pacific growth story but India may well have worked it out that if it can’t get the terms it wants, it is better off out or it has other options and India does have other options," the Singapore minister said. There “are strong possibilities for India and Asean to embark on greater cooperation."
Source: Live Mint
The rupee tumbled by 67 paise to 72.09 against the US currency in early trade on Tuesday, tracking a weak opening in domestic equities amid strong dollar demand from banks and importers. Forex traders said US tariffs on imports from China took effect on Sunday and were followed later by Beijing’s retaliation. Following this, the domestic currency was under pressure.The rupee had appreciated by 38 paise to close at a two-week high of 71.42 against the US dollar on Friday, led by a rally in domestic equities and renewed hopes of US-China trade talks.The forex market was closed on Monday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 72.00 then fell to 72.09 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 67 paise over its previous closing. The Indian rupee on Friday had closed at 71.42 against the US dollar.Traders said strengthening of the greenback vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and a weak opening in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital market, putting in Rs 1,162.95 crore on Friday, provisional data with the exchanges showed.The 30-share index was trading 371.23 points or 0.99 per cent lower at 36,961.56 and the broader Nifty fell 136.90 points or 1.24 per cent to 10,886.35.The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, inched up 0.37 per cent to 99.28.Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, eased marginally by 0.02 per cent to $58.65 per barrel.The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.52 per cent in morning trade.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
The 25th session of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition, to be held from September 25 to 27, will have a focus on eco-friendly supply chain switches and services in a specialised zone called All About Sustainability. The zone will also host Fashionsustain’s first ever conference in Shanghai and has dedicated space for fringe programme. With 25 years of experience, Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics remains at the forefront of the global textile industry, and has highlighted the importance of sustainability with a dedicated zone since 2008. As China’s environmental commitments gain progress – for example, the recent reinforcement of compulsory recycling across Shanghai – the location of the fair is ideal to find the latest updates in environmental innovation. All About Sustainability also hosts a dedicated forum space for fringe programme. Global leaders will gather for a Fashionsustain conference on September 26, focusing on technology, sustainability, digitalisation and innovation as important drivers of the fashion and textile industries. The Fashionsustain conference accompanies Messe Frankfurt’s Neonyt fair in Berlin, and is a new addition to the Intertextile Shanghai fringe programme. The conference will discuss issues such as retail, feminism, equality, diversity, craftsmanship and the cultural dimension of sustainability in fashion. Participants include speakers from Hugo Boss, the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Fashion For Good, Li & Fung, Sourcebook, Kaleidoscope Berlin and DyeCoo / Re-access. From manufacturing fabrics to producing prototypes and sampling, green switches can be made throughout the supply chain. Exhibitor Penfabric, from Malaysia, was the world’s first fully integrated textile company to be awarded the Made in Green by Oeko-Tex label. At the fair, Penfabric will showcase their Go Green Collection, which recycles discarded PET bottles into polyester, in compliance with Japan’s Container and Packing Recycling Laws. New exhibitor MITI, from Italy, has developed Bioback technology fabrics with two main components: Amni Soul Eco Nylon yarn with accelerated biodegradability, and Roica high performance elastane, which does not release any toxic substances during degradation. MITI fabrics are resistant to UV and abrasion, and offer stretch. More eco-friendly fabrics can be found from Shaoxing Natave Textiles, who utilise Lenzing’s EcoVero, Tencel and Modal to create finished fabrics with a soft feel and excellent drape, offering sustainable solutions for ladieswear, evening dresses and suits.
Awareness campaigns have been utilising social media across the globe, as consumers ask for transparency in the apparel supply chain and encouraging brands to improve their practices. For example, Fashion Revolution, a UK-based environmental and ethical NGO has an annual campaign which involves consumers from over 100 countries who ask brands the simple question: “Who made my clothes?” A solution for brands lies in testing and certification. These tools are vital to ensuring trust in a brand, while a recognisable award logo can also act as a strategic selling point for a product. All About Sustainability will feature exhibitors offering testing and certification services, which means both trade buyers and exhibitors can visit the product zone to learn more about improving transparency. These include BTTG Intertek Group, Control Union Certification (Shanghai), Guangzhou Inspection Testing And Certification Group, Intertek Testing Services Shanghai, Qima, and SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services- Shanghai.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
China shrugged off US President Donald Trump’s latest escalation of the tariff war, with state media signalling the government is ready to weather the economic turbulence as no progress to resolve the standoff is in sight. Editorials and commentaries since the Trump administration slapped tariffs on roughly $110 billion in Chinese imports on Sunday have focused on the impact that the latest hikes on goods produced in China will have on US consumers. Late Sunday, the State Council, or Cabinet, released a statement pledging to increase economic support if needed.
Chinese officials have yet to give a clear sign that they intend to carry through a plan for in-person negotiations in Washington this month, a meeting that was planned before the latest round of tit-for-tat measures. Few column inches were dedicated to the trade war Monday, and there was little evidence of a change in stance. “It is time the US administration reconsidered its poorly thought out China-bashing moves,” an editorial in the China Daily argued. “Working to secure a trade deal would be a more fruitful approach.” The tariffs are also harming the global economy. The IMF in July further reduced its world growth outlook, already the lowest since the financial crisis, amid the uncertainty from the trade conflict. China’s retaliation took effect as of 12:01 pm Sunday in Beijing, with higher tariffs being rolled out in stages on a total of about $75 billion of US goods. Its target list strikes at the heart of Trump’s political support — factories and farms across the Midwest and South at a time when the US economy is showing signs of slowing down. Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association, said the Trump administration's approach of using tariffs to pressure China into a deal has backfired. “US companies have to spend more resources on constantly changing trade rules and less on innovation, new products and our economic health,” Shapiro said. “This is not how you reach a meaningful trade agreement.”
Source: The Economic Times
Washington moved ahead Sunday with the new tariffs on Chinese imports as it stepped up a high-pressure campaign aimed at compelling Beijing to sign a new trade deal. China said Monday it had lodged a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization (WTO), one day after new tariffs imposed by Washington on billions of dollars of Chinese goods came into force. "The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to that. In accordance with relevant WTO rules, China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement published on its website. Washington moved ahead Sunday with the new tariffs on Chinese imports as it stepped up a high-pressure campaign aimed at compelling Beijing to sign a new trade deal.
Source: The Economic Times
The bitter trade war between China and the United States kept Asian factory activity mostly in decline in August, business surveys showed, strengthening the case for policymakers to unleash fresh stimulus to fend off recession risks. In a surprise development, China's factory activity unexpectedly expanded in August as output edged up, a private sector purchasing managers' index (PM) showed on Monday, but orders remained weak and business confidence faltered. Export-reliant South Korea, Japan and Taiwan also saw factory activity shrink, underscoring the growing pain from the tit-for-tat tariff war between the world's two-largest economies. "The broader picture for Asian exports remains very weak because of the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, which is continuing to escalate," said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit. "It's not only the U.S.-China trade war. It's also the slowdown in China's auto sector and also because the smart phone demand in China has slowed down. That is again having a negative impact on the South Korean and Japanese electronics sector." In a fresh escalation of trade tensions, the United States began imposing 15% tariffs on a variety of Chinese goods on Sunday. China reciprocated with new duties on U.S. crude. In China, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for August rose to a five-month high of 50.4 from 49.9 in July, beating a median market forecast and exceeding the 50-point level that separates contraction from growth on a monthly basis. The reading followed Beijing's official PMI that showed factory activity shrank in August for the fourth month in a row, pointing to a further slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. Elsewhere in Asia, Japanese manufacturing activity fell for a fourth straight month in August, underlining a darkening outlook for the world's third-largest economy. While Japan's exports slipped for an eighth month in July due to slumping China-bound sales, the economy has so far enjoyed steady growth thanks to robust domestic demand. But there are signs the economy may start to lose the support from consumption and capital expenditure. Manufacturers surveyed in the PMI data said the end of a construction spike ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and a scheduled sales tax hike in October are expected to hurt output volumes the coming months. Any further sign of weakness in domestic demand could add pressure on the Bank of Japan to ramp up stimulus at its rate review on Sept. 18-19, which follows the European Central Bank's rate decision and that of the U.S. Federal Reserve. "The U.S.-China trade war is escalating and we're also seeing tensions heighten between Washington and Europe," which could cause the global economy to falter, said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities."Japan may slide into recession around the time the sales tax hike takes effect," he added. South Korean's factory activity also shrank as manufacturers felt the pinch not just from the U.S.-China trade war but an escalating diplomatic dispute with Japan. The country's exports tumbled in August for a ninth straight month on sluggish demand from its biggest buyer, China, and depressed prices of computer chips globally. The bleak data strengthened the case for an additional policy easing by South Korea's central bank, soon after a surprise interest rate cut in July. "The peak in trade was reached in October 2018, after which growth has been negative," ING said in a research note. "With uncertainty ahead that is not limited to trade tensions between China and the U.S., but also includes increased chances of a no-deal Brexit and slowing global demand, it seems unlikely that the trend in world trade growth will improve markedly in the months ahead."
Source: The Economic Times
Economic ties between Turkey and the U.S. have been dealt with separately from other issues that have been a reason for tension between the two countries recently. This week will be marked by a visit of a U.S. delegation headed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who will be visiting Turkey as of Sept. 6. Ahead of his visit, Ross came together with Turkish and American business representative at a meeting in Washington, during which the trade potential between the two countries was discussed and highlighted the determination to reach the bilateral trade volume of $100 billion. The efforts to take advantage of the huge economic potential between the two NATO allies have been accelerated particularly after the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan in late June. During the meeting, Trump proposed that both countries should aim for $100 billion in bilateral trade. The figure was revised up from the $75 billion target set by the two leaders in February. Both countries' officials and business worlds have since been in close contacts and have been working on a road map to reach the desired target. This was lastly reflected on during a meeting in Washington, held upon the invitation of Ross. It was attended by Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAİK) Chairman Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ, American-Turkish Council (ATC) Chairman General James Jones, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) officials. At the meeting, which emphasized the need to develop a balanced trade of $50 billion in exports and $50 billion in imports, the issues discussed will be presented to Trump by Ross. In 2018, the Turkey-U.S. bilateral trade volume was $20.6 billion, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). While Turkey's exports to the country came to $8.3 billion, its imports totaled $12.3 billion. TurkStat data also showed that in the period January to July this year, the bilateral trade volume between the two NATO partners was around $11.28 billion. U.S. purchases of Turkish products were nearly $4.63 billion, while exports were $6.65 billion. After the two countries' leaders called for the increase of the trade volume, Yalçındağ had sent a letter to Trump, emphasizing the satisfaction of the Turkish and American business community for the project. He also said that collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world's leading consultancy firms, for the creation of a road map had been initiated. Following the letter, Ross reportedly called Yalçındağ and said that they would compare the BSG's report with their own, in the aftermath of which he invited Yalçındağ and Jones to Washington on Aug. 29. According to official sources, during the meeting in Washington, which was held in a generally positive and constructive manner, Ross asked to focus on issues that could be implemented more quickly and prioritized the business perspective, rather than on issues that were difficult to solve in a short time.The U.S. secretary reportedly also underscored that the tariffs to be applied on China would increase Turkey's exports especially in the textile, automotive and white goods sectors, pointing to the improvement of the investment climate and strengthening this perception. He expressed his wishes for improvement in Turkey, especially in the agricultural sector, spearheaded by sugar, pharmaceuticals, and information technology (IT), particularly in the field of and data security and cloud computing. Ross said that they agreed with the findings of the report of the Turkish side and that they were carrying out the detailed study. He later received information on business issues that could be applied more quickly from the Turkish side. Yalçındağ said that these contacts should be evaluated as an indicator of the importance given to the trade volume target with Turkey, adding that both sides put their expectations on the table to ensure balanced trade. "According to Ross, the business and state authorities of both countries should prioritize sectors that can be solved and implemented quickly in the short term," Yalçındağ said. "In this context, textile, automotive, white goods sectors, also emphasized in the BCG report ordered by TAİK, come to the fore. It is highly possible that the exports from Turkey will meet the import potential that will consist of tariffs to be imposed on China." Yalçındağ also stated that improving the investment climate and strengthening the perception between the two countries would support both trade and long-term investments. "Ross said business and government officials in both countries should take quick action," he noted. "Ross also stressed the need to reduce logistics costs and simplify customs procedures between the two countries," Yalçındağ continued. "This is especially important for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade that the U.S. plans to export to Turkey. Ross also said that it is important for them to overcome the challenges of American companies and that all concrete proposals, including the U.S. preferential trade agreement, should be discussed." Ross will begin his Turkey visit this Friday after submitting a report to Trump on the issues agreed on at the first meeting with the Turkish business community on the $100 billion trade volume project. The U.S. secretary, who will spend the first three days of his Turkey visit in Istanbul, will meet with representatives of the Turkish business community such as Turkey-U.S. Business Council, Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM). Scheduled to also visit Istanbul's historical and tourist sites over the weekend, Ross is expected to be received by Erdoğan in Ankara on Monday, Sept. 9. He will also meet with Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan. Erdoğan, who will pay a visit to New York for meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, will launch this project at the 10th Turkish Investment Conference organized by TAİK on Sept. 25. In the TAİK and Citibank joint investor conference, Ross will join with the senior representatives of approximately 1,400 American companies operating in Turkey. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Treasury and Finance Minister Albayrak, Trade Minister Pekcan and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank are also expected to attend the premiere at Cipriani, New York's well-known venue on the 42nd Street.
Source: The Daily Sabah
China has committed to strengthen trade relations with the Philippines by purchasing more goods from the country, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said China’s President Xi Jinping has reiterated the Chinese government’s policy to achieve balanced trade with the Philippines by importing more goods particularly, agri-based and industrial goods during the bilateral meeting between the two countries. Lopez said this was also mentioned during his meeting with China’s Commerce and Finance Minister Zhong Shan.
Over the last three years, Philippine exports to China were increasing at an average of 10 percent. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed China was the Philippines’ biggest source of imports valued at $21.39 billion, and fourth largest market for Philippine exports at $8.70 billion. Lopez said the government continues to encourage Chinese firms to invest in the Philippines as their projects could contribute to job creation, as well as improve the country’s production and export capabilities.“The momentums of Chinese investments have been very positive as FDI (foreign direct investments) from China grew six times more in the last three years. More big ticket projects are on the way especially in the area of manufacturing both in heavy industries like iron and steel and petrochemical, as well as light industries like textile, construction, technology-based services, agribusiness, energy, power, transportation, infrastructure and tourism,” he said. Tourism is another area being promoted by the Philippines and more Chinese tourists are expected to visit the country. In particular, the number of Chinese tourists to the country is expected to reach 1.5 million this year from 1.2 million last year, and just 500,000 in 2015. During President Duterte’s visit to China, a business forum was also arranged which was attended by 300 Chinese and Filipino businessmen. Apart from trade and investments, Lopez said the leaders of the two countries discussed how to advance peace and cooperation in other fields like infrastructure and finance, education, agriculture, science and technology, security, as well as in addressing transnational crimes and illegal drugs.
Source:The Philippine Star
