PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino last night brought home the bacon from China after bagging at least $100 million or P4.2 billion in fresh funds from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations China Investment Fund.

The funds represent 10 percent of the $1 billion Asian China Investment Fund that would be earmarked for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines.

“Nakakagulat na napakalaki ‘nung nilalaan nila, itinatabi para sa Pilipinas. Medyo significant portion of that fund ito,” said the President, who arrived at about 7 p.m. He declared his China trip “a success”.

The ASEAN China Investment Fund is a private equity fund that provides capital for SMEs located within ASEAN and the People’s Republic of China. The Swiss Government, the Asian Development Bank and United Overseas Bank are among the sponsors/investors of this fund.

Aquino said the keepers of the fund may have been impressed by the various programs the government has been implementing with the help of the local and international community to uplift the lives of Filipinos.

“Syempre, kung mapakita nating worthwhile ‘yung investment nilang ginawa, palagay ko ‘yung susunod dadagdagan pa nila ‘yung endowment doon. So kung maganda ‘yung resulta doon…at parang naka-concentrate sa atin, palagay ko mame-maintain natin ‘yung share doon sa fund na ‘yon,” the President said.

He was optimistic that the Chinese business leaders will continue to invest in the Philippines.

The President had a “fruitful” meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao where the two leaders agreed on a number of measures mainly in the area of trade and economic cooperation.

The two leaders affirmed the Philippines-China 5-year development program, and agreed to further increase the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries to $60 billion by 2016.

China also  expressed its support for the Philippines’ Public-Private Partnership program, the centerpiece of the Aquino administration’s economic blueprint.

Aquino’s delegation to China included some of the most powerful and influential names in Philippine business such as PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan, Philippine Airlines chairman Lucio Tan, JG Summit Holdings chairman John Gokongwei, Metrobank founder George S.K. Ty, San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang and Teresita Sy-Coson, daughter of mall tycoon Henry Sy.

Also among the delegation were Filipino businessmen Tony Tan Caktiong of Jollibee Foods Corp. and Carlos Chan, owner of Oishi manufacturer Liwayway Marketing Corp., who both set up successful ventures in China.

The President retraced his roots in Shanghai as he visited the  hometown of his ancestors in Honjian village, located in the township of Jiaomel, Longhai City, Zhangzhou municipality, Fujian province.

The President’s late mother, former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino is a fourth-generation Filipino-Chinese descended from Co Yu Hwan, a Chinese immigrant from Hongjian village who settled in the Philippines in 1861.

Aquino viewed the photo exhibit of his late mother’s visit to Hongjian village and the araucaria tree planted by President Cory Aquino in 1988.

In 1988 when President Cory Aquino visited the Hongjian village, she planted an araucaria tree (a genus of coniferous evergreen) to commemorate her historical visit there. She also lighted incense at the altar of the Ancestral Temple of the Xu (Co) clan.