New findings on Chinese financing in the
are challenging the assumption that Beijing reduced its funding under President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr because of worsening tensions in the South China Sea.
Instead, Chinese capital had continued to support Filipino businesses in recent years, including a US$3.9 billion syndicated loan to telecommunications company Dito Telecommunity in 2023, the largest ever China-backed private-sector loan to the Philippines, AidData, a US-based research group, told This Week in Asia.
Nearly US$9 billion in Chinese loans were provided to the Philippine private sector over two decades from 2000, said AidData, which also highlighted a US$300 million refinancing loan to energy conglomerate San Miguel Global Power for general operations.
The findings suggest geopolitical friction has not been a major influence in Chinese firms’ assessment of funding and business opportunities in the Philippines, according to analysts.
AidData, a research laboratory at William \& Mary, a public university in Virginia, found that Chinese financing to the Philippines remained resilient and was becoming more private-sector-oriented.
The Dito loan helped finance a multibillion-dollar contract to manage its 4G and 5G networks nationwide, the latter of which was signed in 2019 with ZTE Corporation, with AidData saying the funds were used to refinance earlier bridging loans that Dito received from Chinese financial institutions.