China-Singapore cooperation brings strong financial support

China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Imitative on Strategic Connectivity is expected to contribute to Chongqing's economic growth. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit will be held in Liangjiang New Area, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality from Nov 4 to 5.

As one of the five major projects of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Imitative on Strategic Connectivity, the summit is considered as an exploration of financial cooperation between China and Singapore, contributing to Chongqing's economic growth.

Since being held in 2018, the summit has helped to bring about 36 cooperation agreements involving finance, commerce, logistics, and manufacturing. In addition, the amount of agreements between China and Singapore's governments, banks, and companies have totaled 950 billion yuan ($133.33 billion).

By the end of June this year, Chongqing has established a multi-channel financing system integrating international commercial loans, overseas loans under domestic guarantees, offshore bond issuances, and cross-border real estate investment trusts.

With the participation of 82 Chinese and foreign financial institutions, Chongqing's cross-border financing has exceeded $10 billion, while the average interest rate of Singapore's banks for Chongqing companies is 4.33 percent.

In addition to Chongqing, neighboring provinces such as Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan also benefit from the financing system, achieving a cross-border financing of $4 billion.

In the future, Chongqing will promote in-depth financial cooperation and build a platform for countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as make the summit an international exchange platform to provide investment and financing services for the construction of the BRI.