July 23, 2025 l Business Mirror
GUANGZHOU, China—Aside from being the biggest city in both the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou serves as the capital of Guangdong, which has the largest provincial gross domestic product (GDP) in China. Formerly known as Canton, it has a long history as a trade and manufacturing hub dating back to ancient times when it was the key starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.
Twice a year since the spring of 1957, Guangzhou has been hosting the Canton Fair—the oldest and largest trade fair in China. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s February 2025 report, Guangdong continues to be the Philippines’s number one trading partner among the 23 Chinese provinces.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA consists of nine mega-cities and two special administrative regions with a total population of 86 million as the largest urban area in the world. In 2022, the GBA’s combined regional GDP reached $1.95 trillion equivalent to over 10 percent of China’s GDP. It houses the most innovative tech companies in China, majority of which are in Shenzhen–the “Silicon Valley of Asia.”
As an essential part of Mainland China’s innovation strategy, Guangzhou is recognized as a technology powerhouse in research & development, biotech, artificial intelligence (AI), automotive manufacturing, and smart infrastructure. Across the city, there are 161 data centers operated by 41 providers. Its data center industry is anchored on both public and private sector development led by the country’s state-owned telecommunications enterprises.
China Telecom Corp., the second largest operator after China Mobile Ltd., has massive investments in Guangzhou focusing on green and AI-optimized infrastructure in support of the digital economy. Its data center investments include the GBA’s 5G Cloud Computing Center, the Shaoguan Integrated Data Center and the Pazhou Smart Compute Center.
In the Philippines, China Telecom has made significant strategic investments–most notably through its 40 percent stake in DITO Telecommunity Corp. and its involvement in Asia Link Cable (ALC), a joint project with Globe Telecom Inc., Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., and Brunei’s Unified National Networks Sdn. Bhd.
The ALC is approximately 6,100 kilometers long, and this $300-million Southeast Asian subsea cable system will connect Hong Kong to Singapore as its main trunks, with branches into the Philippines, Brunei, and Hainan province in China. It is designed to boost data capacity and connectivity in the region amid rising digitalization to meet the growing needs for data consumption.
Through its consortium with DITO, China Telecom has committed to invest over $5.4 billion to build 4G and 5G networks nationwide. Last week, DITO announced that it breached the 15-million subscriber mark in barely four years of operation. This achievement came on the heels of its recent recognition as the fastest mobile network in the Philippines by Opensignal, a global mobile markets authority based in the United Kingdom.
DITO is the only Filipino telco that has a full-scale 5G stand-alone network. The robust growth of its fixed wireless access service has reached 250,000 subscribers as of last month. This was disclosed recently in a media briefing at its Bonifacio Global City headquarters, where it launched the DITO Home WoWFi Pro—a plug-and-play device that delivers up to 100 Mbps in Wi-Fi speed.
Such collaboration has the potential to significantly reshape the Philippine banking and finance industry, particularly in the fields of cybersecurity, fintech connectivity, mobile financial services, and digital infrastructure. As more Filipino banks are expanding digital services to rural areas, they can connect with their branches and ATMs via 5G and fiber technologies to enable real-time, high-speed transaction processing even in remote provinces.
This would impact the clients of local banks and financial services companies positively via faster networks and cloud services as well as more convenient e-wallets and quicker remittances. Increased banking competition will also apply pressure on traditional players to upgrade their systems and collaborate with the more agile fintechs.
Unbanked or underserved communities stand to benefit from widespread connectivity through better signal and cheaper data—overcoming a major barrier to mobile bank access. Even without bank accounts, they can make payments with e-wallet systems acting as the gateway to inclusive finance. Farmers and sari-sari store owners could then gain tools for capital along with small and medium enterprises, thus gaining financial literacy and empowerment in an increasingly digital environment.
***The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX. For comments, email nextgenmedia@gmail.com. Photo is from Pinterest.