‘Great prospects’ for Singapore and Shanghai to draw closer: SM Lee, Shanghai CPC chief
[SHANGHAI] Singapore and China’s financial capital Shanghai can draw closer with many more possibilities for collaboration, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Shanghai party chief Chen Jining said on Thursday (Nov 28).
Both cities already have strong economic links, with more than 4,000 Singapore companies in the city alone.
Noting his familiarity with Shanghai, which he has visited regularly over three decades, SM Lee said: “Each time I come back, I’m happy to see the city prospering, developing and thriving with new industries and new ideas and new possibilities.”
Chen, who is the top official in Shanghai, also agreed there was “great prospect” for future collaboration.
Trade between the two cities has grown 20 per cent since a Shanghai-Singapore Comprehensive Cooperation Council was established five years ago, said Chen.
As China and Singapore mark 35 years of official diplomatic relations in 2025, “Shanghai is happy to make great contribution to promote bilateral ties”, he said.
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The financial hub is an important port of call for Singapore companies looking to enter the Chinese market.
In the first half of 2024, trade between the two cities grew 15 per cent to 61.57 billion yuan (S$11.4 billion), fuelled by strong growth in exports from Shanghai to Singapore. Singapore is Shanghai’s largest foreign investor as of June 2023, with cumulative actual investments hitting US$25.99 billion in the first half of 2024.
As of end-2022, Shanghai is also Singapore’s second largest investment destination in China, behind Jiangsu province.
Investments from Singapore are concentrated in the real estate, financial services, manufacturing, lifestyle and consumer sectors.
Singapore companies in Shanghai include CapitaLand, Keppel, and DBS. Major Shanghai companies that have presence in Singapore include China UnionPay, Ctrip and Lufax.
“We see many possibilities for doing more things together,” SM Lee told Chen.
“The international environment is troubled and that simply means that between like-minded partners we have to work harder to find opportunities to cooperate and make win-win arrangements,” added SM Lee.
SM Lee met Chen on the third and final leg of his official visit to China. He returns to Singapore on Nov 29.
This is the first time the two leaders are formally meeting.
Chen, who was former mayor of Beijing, took over the Shanghai portfolio from now-Premier Li Qiang in October 2022 during a major leadership reshuffle.
Trained as an environmental scientist at Imperial College London, he spent two years running the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Before that, he was president of Tsinghua University.
SM Lee’s China tour marks his first visit in his new capacity as senior minister.
He started his tour in Suzhou, where he officiated commemorative events for the 30th anniversary of Suzhou Industrial Park, an intergovernmental project.
SM Lee was last in China in March 2023 where he met President Xi Jinping in Beijing. On Nov 26, he again met Xi, who hosted the Singapore delegation to dinner.
On Nov 28, SM Lee also met Singapore business representatives. THE STRAITS TIMES
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