Singapore and China ink several deals in Chongqing

Chongqing

SINGAPORE and China have inked as many as nine agreements at their latest apex bilateral meeting held in Chongqing in China's south-west.

The pacts signed by the two sides at their 15th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meeting ranged from agreements on customs twinning and a smart-city project in Shenzhen to a youth-internship exchange.

The substantial number of deals - up from the seven signed at least year's talks - can be read as a sign of a new chapter in the ties between the two countries, as Singapore transitions to a new political generation.

On Tuesday, the council co-chairs - Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng - acknowledged the milestone in their opening remarks at the bilateral meeting and subsequent council meeting.

Referring to the 30th anniversary of relations between Singapore and China next year, Mr Han said there were "a lot of expectations" about this year's meeting as the two countries face common challenges amid a wave of protectionism and anti-globalisation sweeping the world.

Mr Heng said both countries attach great importance to the annual summit, reflected by "the high-level representation and substantial achievements" of the projects.

Referring to the significant number of fourth-generation leaders from Singapore who are at the meeting, he expressed hope that their presence would "pave the way for the next generation of leaders to strengthen our bilateral relationship".

Among the agreements signed was one between Singapore's Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Shenzhen government to connect business ecosystems and promote links between the people and businesses in Singapore and the Chinese tech capital.

MCI said in a statement that the projects under this initiative will be in areas like "digital connectivity, talent exchange and development, and innovation and entrepreneurship".

Another agreement paves the way for internship exchanges for students and recent graduates of polytechnics and universities. To be launched next year, it will provide for up to 500 Singaporean full-time students and recent graduates each year to work at a China-based company of their choice for up to six months. Chinese students will have similar opportunities.

This is the first bilateral internship exchange scheme Singapore has had with another country, and the Republic is the first Asian country to have such an arrangement with China.

Singapore Customs and its Chinese counterpart also signed a deal to smoothen customs clearance for Singapore's intergovernmental project in Chongqing.

On Tuesday, Mr Heng and Mr Han also announced that the upgrade to the two countries' free-trade agreement will take effect on Wednesday. With the upgrade, more petrochemical products will qualify for preferential treatment.

The agreement also grants Singapore companies greater access to China's legal, maritime and construction-services sector, and includes enhancements in investment protection, customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade remedial measures and commitments in new areas such as e-commerce, competition and the environment.

The free-trade agreement has existed since 2009 and was China's first comprehensive bilateral free trade pact with an Asian country. Talks for its upgrade started in 2015; there were eight rounds of discussions over three years.

At Tuesday's meeting, the two sides discussed the progress of their three joint projects: Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), Tianjin Eco-city and Chongqing Connectivity Initiative.

The oldest one, the 25-year-old Suzhou project, is moving beyond its brick-and-mortar industrial park beginnings; Singapore is now stepping in with professional services, intellectual property management and financial services to support Chinese companies in going global.

In the innovation space, Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) will have its first foreign outpost called the A*Star Partners' Centre @SIP to facilitate partnerships between Singapore and Chinese companies.

Tianjin Eco-city, which now has 8,200 registered companies and more than 100,000 people living or working in its 30 sq km area, is developing into a smart city, with pilot projects such as autonomous public buses and smart carparks.

Singapore and China are also looking to replicate the city's model in other Chinese cities and in the Belt and Road countries. Chongqing is a relatively new focus and is Singapore's effort to plug into China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The two countries are working on a long-term project to connect China's less-developed western region to the rest of the world. Singapore is providing modern services in areas such as logistics, financial services, aviation and information and communications technology.

The two sides are also working on a trade corridor that will integrate western China with South-east Asia by connecting Chongqing to Qinzhou in Guangxi by rail, and to Singapore and beyond by sea.

China's BRI is a signature project by President Xi Jinping, whose vision is to create a 21st century Silk Road of overland corridors and shipping lanes.

Mr Heng will visit Tianjin Eco-city on Wednesday and end his official visit in Beijing on Thursday, where he will meet several Chinese leaders.

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