Regarding pandas, sleeping giants

Three decades ago, when this writer first visited the mainland, China was still the sleeping giant that it was once, wrapped in its own cocoon of conservativeness and hiding behind the so-called bamboo curtain.

Chengdu used to be associated with the cute Panda bears but now it is one of China’s vital economic cogs.

CHENGDU City, Sichuan — It’s easy to see why economic giant China has embraced the mantle of leadership in Asia. It has every reason to do so.

One only has to look at this bustling metropolis, the capital of Sichuan province southwest of the mainland, to see how an area which was not probably even in the blueprint yet when the country’s capital Beijing and economic showcase Shanghai were easily the most dominant cities in the mainland, and one would readily understand.

A cruise of the city, the night we arrived from Manila Saturday to take part in the 10th 10+3 Media Cooperation Forum sponsored by People’s Daily, gave us a good glimpse of the rapid growth of the once sleeping giant. Rows and rows of skyscrapers line up the wide avenues leading to the central business district lit up as generously and colorfully symbolic of its new stature as a rising star.

Once only known as the land of the iconic pandas, Chengdu has progressed by leaps and bounds that it has overtaken Beijing and technology hub Shenzhen as China’s best performing city economy, according to a Milken Institute report. Shenzhen dropped from first to second in the annual rankings.

Author and Daily Tribune Associate Editor Manny Angeles takes five in the company of a giant panda after getting a glimpse of the spectacle of Chengdu City in Sichuan.

Chengdu shot up six places from last year to grab top spot for the third time since 2015 in the index which ranked 262 Chinese cities on nine growth indicators such as jobs, wages, gross regional product (GRP) per capita and foreign direct investment (FDI) growth from 2012 and 2017.

Chengdu, together with Chongqing are the twin growth engines in China’s western region with the former having cemented its place as a manufacturing hub specializing in defense -related production.

The city of some 16.33 million, according to the survey, ranked number one in terms of employment growth, fifth for wage growth and 15th for GRP per capita growth among China’s first- and second- tier cities.

Such is the rise of Chengdu and other erstwhile support cities that China has blossomed into the world power that it is now, even threatening to overtake the United States.

Three decades ago, when this writer first visited the mainland, China was still the sleeping giant that it was once, wrapped in its own cocoon of conservativeness and hiding behind the so-called bamboo curtain.

The bamboo curtain was the cold war political demarcation between the communist states of East Asia, particularly China and the capitalist and non-Communist states of East, South and Southeast Asia. To the north/northwest lay Communist China, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and others.

That was 1989 when the now regional powerhouse was starting to practice some kind of diplomacy through sports, inviting neighboring countries such as the Philippines in friendly tournaments, including basketball, naming them international friendship matches.

It was probably China’s attempt of thawing the cold war.