Philippines Says Sea Tensions With China Have Not Hurt Economy

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines said geopolitical tensions with Beijing have not affected the Southeast Asian nation’s economy and the government is still willing to work with Chinese investors.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Biden Set to Impose Tariffs on China EVs, Strategic Sectors

• Ackman Scolded Over DEI Views at Closed-Door Milken Session

• Apple Apologizes for iPad Pro Ad, Scraps Plan to Air It on TV

• Marjorie Taylor Greene Finally Got What She Deserved: Defeat

• ‘Seriously Underwater’ Home Mortgages Tick Up Across the US

“There doesn’t seem to be any indication at all that these issues have remarkable adverse effects on the economy,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Thursday, shortly after the government reported first-quarter growth of 5.7%, below a 5.9% expansion seen in a Bloomberg survey.

Read More: Philippines Keeps Growth Momentum Although Risks Are Showing

Tensions between the Philippines and China over their competing claims in the South China Sea have escalated in recent months. The Philippines last year dropped Chinese financing for three railway projects because funding was not provided, Balisacan said.

“We are not turning against China,” Balisacan said. “I don’t think there is any attempt at all to disadvantage Chinese investors in the Philippines, particularly the private investors, just because we have these issues in the West Philippine Sea,” he added, using Manila’s term for the South China Sea.

--With assistance from Andreo Calonzo and Ditas Lopez.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• How Uniqlo’s ‘Millennial Birkin’ Is Beating Designer Bags

• Tim Cook Can’t Run Apple Forever. Who’s Next?

• The Company Preaching America’s Nuclear Revival

• ‘It’s a Money Loser’: Tax Breaks for Data Centers Are Under Fire

• With China’s Property Market Struggling, India, Korea and Vietnam Are Hot

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.