Chinese investors meet Duterte in Mactan

A group of Chinese investors met with President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday to inform him of their investments in the amount of $1.38 billion. Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said that Anhui Shengyun Environmental Protection (Group) Company, a publicly listed company in China, is the first inflow among the investments.

This is an offshoot of Duterte’s visit to China in October 2016. The company will engage in environmental waste-to-energy and mass housing projects in the Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila.

Despite the violence in Marawi City and the now-resolved Abu Sayyaf intrusion in Bohol, the investors came to Cebu to relay their full commitment to invest in the Visayas, Dino said. “This US$1.38 billion is the first of several investments agreed on and signed in Cebu in December 2016,” said Kai Xiao Sheng, chairman of Anhui. The investment is also in response to the “One Belt, One Road” initiative to revive China’s Silk Road trade routes, launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2016, Sheng said. “We plan to make investments and conduct the following projects: ecological projects for the people’s livelihood such as waste-to-energy power plants, biomass-to-energy power plants, urban sewage water treatment, and urban landfill treatment, and rehabilitation,” Sheng said.

On the other hand, Shangyun donated P5 million to assist the victims in Marawi City, where the Maute Group launched an offensive last May 23 that led to the declaration of martial law in Mindanao. Jonji Gonzales of the Office of the Presidential Assistant said that the projects will start “as soon as possible.”