Joint expert panel to advance Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city

Singapore

LINKS between Singapore and China's private and public sectors got a boost on Monday, with the unveiling of several initiatives, including the formation of a joint expert panel that will advance the development of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

The joint panel will advise the Eco-city on how to achieve its vision and leverage on opportunities arising from China's national plans, such as the Jing-Jin-Ji Integrated Development and the 13th Five-Year Plan.

It will comprise experts from the government and private sectors, academic institutions and research organisations.

The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is a project between Singapore and China to develop a economically-vibrant and resource-efficient city in Tianjin.

Singapore's Ministry of National Development and the People's Republic of China Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the formation of the panel at the 9th Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city Joint Steering Council Meeting on Monday.

Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, said: "We will be tapping on the rich experience and constructive ideas of both Singapore and Chinese experts to further propel the Eco-city's development, making it a forerunner in sustainable development in China, with the aim of replicating the model in other parts of China and beyond."

Also inked on Monday was a pact between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the Guangdong provincial government.

The pact will see the establishment of a Tripartite Cooperation Framework which will guide the development of the the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City (SSGKC) as an intellectual property (IP) demonstration zone.

China is world's second-largest economy and largest IP filer. The framework will connect leading Singaporean IP service providers with Chinese companies, host high-level IP conferences and provide specialised training in IP management.

Chief executive of IPOS Daren Tang said: "Asia is driving much of the world's innovation activity. This Cooperation Framework will allow Singapore to contribute to the development of China's IP and innovation ecosystem, and encourage innovative Chinese companies to use Singapore as a base for launching their products and services in South-east Asia and beyond."

Amid the strengthening in bilateral ties, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) on Sunday signed a joint venture agreement with China-based ZBJ Network Inc to develop an online creative services platform for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The business-to-business (B2B) bilingual platform, said to be first of its kind, will target SMEs in Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of South-east Asia.

For its part, SPH will leverage its SME networks in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. It will also provide sales and marketing expertise, advertising and publicity on its print and digital platforms, and competitive digital bundling.

ZBJ is China's largest online creative services platform, with a market share of over 80 per cent and a transacted value of 7.5 billion yuan (S$1.5 billion). It currently has over 13 million service providers and six million registered users.

SPH deputy chief executive Anthony Tan said the platform will provide both local and China-based SMEs with a "one-stop holistic package" for creative services.

The name and contents of the platform will be announced in late 2017.