SHANGHAI, China—In a bid to highlight mutual cooperation and friendly relations amid the ongoing dispute over the West Philippine Sea, the biggest and most influential media group here has chosen to send its government’s message to Chinese and Filipino citizens through journalists under a “people-to-people” exchange program.
The Xinmin Evening News has embarked on an ambitious five-day “media exchange tour” by inviting the first batch of eight select journalists from the major broadsheets in the Philippines to “enhance relations” between the Chinese and Filipino peoples.
The editors of Xinmin tapped the Shanghai government officials to present to the visiting Filipino journalists what the Chinese people have recently done for the Philippines, such as the $1-billion power project in Mindanao and the $4.4-billion foreign direct investments put up by Beijing in the Philippines.
They also showcased the fast progressing wholly Filipino-owned Oishi factory that now has 16 factories in as many provinces in China.
“Chinese and the Filipino people have long time relationship. We hope that this visit will further strenghten our [people-to-people] relationship,” said Wang Weixin, deputy editor-in-chief of the Xinmin Evening News, the largest newspaper in Shanghai that is a publicly listed firm with 23 overseas issues.
According to Xinmin editor-in-chief Chen Qi Wei, the paper has 1.8 million in circulation daily that reaches 8.8 million households or 22 million reaidents of Shanghai.
“Our paper serves as the voice of the citizens to be heard by the government. There’s nothing that we can’t write,” Qi Wei said.
Shanghai Development and reform commission director Gao Yu said a proof of enhanced bilateral trade relations despite policy differences on the West Philippine Sea is the $1 billion investment of Shanghai Electric Power Construction Company (SEPCC) in the energy sector in Mindanao.
Gao Yu said Shanghai is bullish on the country’s business potential.
He added the Philippines is poised for “great” economic momentum, citing the robust seven percent expansion in gross domestic product during the second quarter of this year.
SEPCC, a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China, won a contract to build the thermal facility in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte in 2014.
On the other hand, there are some 13 Filipino-owned firms operating here, among them Liwayway (International) Co. Ltd., the maker of Oishi snacks owned and controlled by Ambassador Carlos Chan; Bench, a popular clothing brand in the Philippines; and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.
Oishi’s Larry Chan said the Chinese authorities had been helpul to their company’s expansion all over China.
“At the height of the West Philippine Sea dispute, the Chinese authorities immediately sent policemen to secure us. We told them there’s no need because we feel safe and secured,” Chan said. “We’ve been here long.”
Chan said his firm employs 8,600 workers that include 100 Filipino executives.
According to Wang, the familiarization tour in this bustling metropolis could “enhance communications” between the two countries in general, and Shanghai and the Philippines in particular.
Qi Wei underscored the important role of media in this endeavor.
“Our government is government of people. Media should come in and help the government,” Qi Wei said.
In 2015, trade between Shanghai alone and the Philippines reached $4.4 billion, while two-way trade between China and the Philippines stood at $18 billion.
The select Filipino journalists include this reporter, Paolo Romero of the Philippine Star, Estrella Torres of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Virgilio Galvez (formerly of Philippine Information Agency), Catherine Pillas of Business Mirror, Zhuang Ming Deng of Chinese Commercial News, Fil Sionil of Manila Bulletin and Mauro Samonte of Manila Times.