[In photo: DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo (fourth from left) with members of the PH delegation, DXHIC Co-owners and Top Officials Mr. Sloan Shao (rightmost) and Mr. Zeng Lingcan (second from right)]
DXHIC, a twenty-five-year-old Dongguan-based company in the southern Chinese Province of Guangdong is expanding its presence in the Southeast Asian region with the opening of its first bag manufacturing facility in the Philippines by third quarter of 2023.
This was disclosed by top officials of DXHIC at the sidelines of the 2023 ASEAN-China Greater Bay Area (Qianhai) Economic Cooperation Forum during their business meeting with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo, who was in the Chinese tech-hub, Shenzhen City, to join other high-level ASEAN trade and science and technology officials.
Undersecretary Rodolfo along with Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime Flor-Cruz, Philippine Consul General to Guangzhou Marshall Louis Alferez, and officials from the Philippine Trade and Investment Centers (PTIC) in Guangzhou and Beijing, lauded the Chinese company which supplies for top international brands, for its business confidence in the Philippines as an ideal manufacturing location in ASEAN.
Mr. Sloan Shao, one of the investors for the soon-to-open Good Manufacturing PH Leathers Inc. in Subic, said the locational advantage of the Philippines being situated at the heart of the ASEAN and proximate to the China Greater Bay Area, along with the country’s dependable workforce were the key reasons for their decision to expand their global footprint in the Philippines. 
The Chinese company intends to eventually export bags from their new facility in Subic to their clients including those from Europe.
The Philippines has been a beneficiary of the European Union’s (EU) Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) and the European Free Trade Agreements (EFTA). DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual led a mission to the European Union in June to push for the resumption of talks for the Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Recently, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen jointly announced the start of the scoping discussions towards a bilateral FTA.
Around 1200 Filipinos are initially expected to be employed by the company by the end of the year. The Subic facility, although labor-intensive, will also feature some top-of-the-line equipment to ensure fine quality demanded by the luxury accessories market. Over the medium-term, Shao said the Chinese company forecasts hiring up to 5,000 employees in future for its Philippine operation.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary Rodolfo also encouraged business people, academics, and local leaders attending the Qianhai Economic Cooperation Forum to continue the good track record of cooperation between China Greater Bay Area, and ASEAN.
He emphasized Greater Bay Area companies can help with the ‘industrial transformation through science, technology and innovation’ of the Philippines, especially as the country positions itself as ASEAN’s regional hub for smart manufacturing and services, attracting sectors such as renewable energy, telecommunications infrastructure, hyperscale data centers, green metal processing, electric vehicle battery and assembly, smart manufacturing, and agriculture.
In 2022, China ranked as the Philippines’ top trading partner with data showing total trade between both countries in 2022 was up by 2.32% to USD39.14 billion from USD38.25 billion in 2021. 
In 2022, China ranked as the Philippines’ top trading partner with total trade between both countries up by 2.32% to USD39.14 billion from USD38.25 billion in 2021. 
