Like much of Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese dominate Philippine commerce at every level of society.
Filipino Chinese wield a tremendous economic clout unerringly disproportionate to their small population size over their indigenous Filipino majority counterparts and play a critical role in maintaining the country's economic vitality and prosperity.
With their powerful economic prominence, the Chinese virtually make up the country's entire wealthy elite.
Filipino Chinese in the aggregate, represent a disproportionate wealthy, market-dominant minority not only form a distinct ethnic community, they also form, by and large, an economic class: the commercial middle and upper class in contrast to the poorer indigenous Filipino majority working and underclass.
Entire posh Chinese enclaves have sprung up in major Filipino cities across the country, literally walled off from the poorer indigenous Filipino masses guarded by heavily armed, private security forces.

Ethnic Chinese have been major players in the Filipino business sector and dominated the economy of the Philippines for centuries long before the pre-Spanish and American colonial eras.
Long before the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, Chinese merchants carried on trading activities with native communities along the coast of modern Mainland China.
By the time the Spanish arrived, Chinese controlled all the trading and commercial activities, serving as retailers, artisans, and providers of food for various Spanish settlements.
During the American colonial epoch, ethnic Chinese controlled a large percentage of the retail trade and internal commerce of the country.
They predominated the retail trade and owned 75 percent of the 2,500 rice mills scattered along the Filipino islands.
Total resources of banking capital held by the Chinese was $27 million in 1937 to a high of $100 million in the estimated aggregate, making them second to the Americans in terms of total foreign capital investment held.
Under Spanish rule, Chinese were willing to engage in trade and other business activities.
They were responsible for introducing sugar refining devices, new construction techniques, moveable type printing, and bronze making.
Chinese also provided fishing, gardening, artisan, and other trading services.
Many Chinese were drawn to business as they were prohibited from owning land and saw the only way out of poverty was through business and entrepreneurship, to take charge of their own financial destinies by becoming self-employed as vendors, retailers, traders, collectors, and distributors of goods and services.
Mainly attracted by the economic opportunity during the first four decades of the 20th century, American colonization of the Philippines allowed the Chinese to secure their economic clout among their entrepreneurial pursuits.
The implementation of a free trade policy between the Philippines and the United States allowed the Chinese to take advantage of a burgeoning Filipino consumer market.
As a result, Filipino Chinese were able to capture a significant market share by expanding their business lines in which they were the major players and ventured into then newly flourishing industries such as industrial manufacturing and financial services.

Ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs are estimated to control 60 to 70 percent of the Philippine economy.
Filipino Chinese, comprising 1 of the population, control many of the Philippines' largest and most lucrative department store chains, supermarkets, hotels, shopping malls, airlines and fast-food restaurants in addition to all the major financial services corporations, banks and stock brokerage firms, and they dominate the nation's wholesale distribution networks, shipping, banking, construction, textiles, real estate, personal computer, semiconductors, pharmaceutical, media, and industrial manufacturing industries.
The Chinese are also involved in the processing and distribution of pharmaceutical products.
More than 1000 firms are involved in this industry, with most being small and medium-sized companies with a total capitalization of
Like much of Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese dominate Philippine commerce at every level of society. Filipino Chinese wield a tremendous economic clout unerringly disproportionate to their small population size over their indigenous Filipino majority counterparts and play a critical role in maintaining the country's economic vitality and prosperity. With their powerful economic prominence, the Chinese virtually make up the country's entire wealthy elite. Filipino Chinese in the aggregate, represent a disproportionate wealthy, market-dominant minority not only form a distinct ethnic community, they also form, by and large, an economic class: the commercial middle and upper class in contrast to the poorer indigenous Filipino majority working and underclass. Entire posh Chinese enclaves have sprung up in major Filipino cities across the country, literally walled off from the poorer indigenous Filipino masses guarded by heavily armed, private security forces.
Ethnic Chinese have been major players in the Filipino business sector and dominated the economy of the Philippines for centuries long before the pre-Spanish and American colonial eras. Long before the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, Chinese merchants carried on trading activities with native communities along the coast of modern Mainland China. By the time the Spanish arrived, Chinese controlled all the trading and commercial activities, serving as retailers, artisans, and providers of food for various Spanish settlements. During the American colonial epoch, ethnic Chinese controlled a large percentage of the retail trade and internal commerce of the country. They predominated the retail trade and owned 75 percent of the 2,500 rice mills scattered along the Filipino islands. Total resources of banking capital held by the Chinese was $27 million in 1937 to a high of $100 million in the estimated aggregate, making them second to the Americans in terms of total foreign capital investment held. Under Spanish rule, Chinese were willing to engage in trade and other business activities. They were responsible for introducing sugar refining devices, new construction techniques, moveable type printing, and bronze making. Chinese also provided fishing, gardening, artisan, and other trading services. Many Chinese were drawn to business as they were prohibited from owning land and saw the only way out of poverty was through business and entrepreneurship, to take charge of their own financial destinies by becoming self-employed as vendors, retailers, traders, collectors, and distributors of goods and services. Mainly attracted by the economic opportunity during the first four decades of the 20th century, American colonization of the Philippines allowed the Chinese to secure their economic clout among their entrepreneurial pursuits. The implementation of a free trade policy between the Philippines and the United States allowed the Chinese to take advantage of a burgeoning Filipino consumer market. As a result, Filipino Chinese were able to capture a significant market share by expanding their business lines in which they were the major players and ventured into then newly flourishing industries such as industrial manufacturing and financial services.
Ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs are estimated to control 60 to 70 percent of the Philippine economy. Filipino Chinese, comprising 1 of the population, control many of the Philippines' largest and most lucrative department store chains, supermarkets, hotels, shopping malls, airlines and fast-food restaurants in addition to all the major financial services corporations, banks and stock brokerage firms, and they dominate the nation's wholesale distribution networks, shipping, banking, construction, textiles, real estate, personal computer, semiconductors, pharmaceutical, media, and industrial manufacturing industries. The Chinese are also involved in the processing and distribution of pharmaceutical products. More than 1000 firms are involved in this industry, with most being small and medium-sized companies with a total capitalization of 
Chinese Filipino