[Photo provided to China Daily]

Duty Free Philippines is building more shops in tourist destinations.

In another major development, Umali says that the Philippines and China have agreed to promote two-way tourist traffic.

"Since the late Tang Dynasty (618-907), Filipino and Chinese merchants have been interacting through barter trade done on sampans," Umali says. "And through the centuries, Chinese slowly integrated themselves into Philippine society and permanently settled on our islands.