SINGAPORE and Shanghai strengthened economic ties with fifteen agreements signed between public and private organisations, at the fourth Singapore-Shanghai Comprehensive Cooperation Council (SSCCC) meeting on Monday (Apr 24).

Agreements between respective government agencies included a memorandum of understanding on the digital economy as well as one on tourism.

SSCCC co-chair Edwin Tong said he hoped China’s easing of travel restrictions would allow both sides to strengthen connectivity and interactions at all levels.

“I look forward to the restoration of weekly passenger services between Shanghai and Singapore to pre-Covid levels soon,” added Tong, who is Singapore’s Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law.

Co-chaired by Tong and Shanghai’s mayor Gong Zheng, Monday’s event was the first physical provincial business council meeting between Singapore and China since the Covid-19 pandemic, and the first time the SSCCC meeting was hosted in Singapore.

At the event, former SSCCC co-chair and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said: “The SSCCC has served as an important platform in catalysing deeper collaborations – not just between Singapore and Shanghai, but also between Singapore and the broader Yangtze River Delta region.”

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Tong noted that despite the pandemic, investments and new projects from Singapore into Shanghai continued to grow. “This is testament to the resilient ties that Singapore and Shanghai share, and the attractiveness of Shanghai as a market and a beachhead for many Singapore companies.”

In 2022, two-way trade between the cities rose 8 per cent to nearly S$20 billion.

At the meeting, leaders agreed to strengthen trade and investment ties, enhance bilateral cooperation in digital and green economies, and deepen partnerships in financial services and innovation.

The 15 agreements included people-to-people exchanges, financial services, technology and innovation. Singapore’s CrimsonLogic, for instance, will work with Shanghai Data Group to improve cross-border goods trade through digitalisation.

OCBC will collaborate with China’s state-owned UnionPay International to facilitate digital payments by consumers, “especially those going to China”, said OCBC’s head of global consumer financial services Sunny Quek.

“It will provide added convenience, which is especially important as global travel is expected to continue its upward trajectory,” he said.