SINGAPORE: Singapore and China signed 19 agreements to deepen cooperation at an annual top-level bilateral meeting on Tuesday (Nov 1).
The raft of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and agreements signed – up from 14 last year and the most in recent years – covered areas such as green development and green finance, e-commerce, public health, innovation cooperation and tourism exchanges.
The “bumper crop” of 19 deliverables reflects the “growing depth and breadth” of bilateral cooperation between both countries, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at a press conference held after the 18th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting.
The JCBC meeting – co-chaired by Mr Heng and visiting Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng – is the highest-level annual forum between China and Singapore. Held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore, it was the first physical meeting between representatives from both sides since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The meetings have been very substantial and set out new directions that are in line with Singapore’s needs and our work in transforming the economy, as well as China’s new development direction,” said Mr Heng.
He noted that there are three broad themes in the new agreements signed, namely green, digital and connectivity.
“These are areas of priorities – not just for our two countries, but for the region and the world,” he said.
The green-related agreements included initiatives to expand cooperation in green finance and deepen connectivity between both countries’ capital markets.
For one, a green finance taskforce will be set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the People’s Bank of China.
This will explore options for collaboration in areas such as green and transition financing solutions, data and technology adoption, as well as green investment opportunities in China’s green finance pilot cities and third countries.
A low-carbon index family will also be jointly launched by the stock exchanges of both countries by the year-end. This aims to serve as a benchmark for fund managers to launch new green funds focused on China, ASEAN and other countries in Asia.
In addition, a separate MOU was signed by Enterprise Singapore and the Suzhou Industrial Park’s administrative committee to deepen green development cooperation.