Shanghai, Singapore deepen cooperation across multiple fields

Various government bodies, organizations and enterprises from Shanghai and Singapore signed a series of memoranda of understanding on Thursday during the 3rd Meeting of the Shanghai-Singapore Comprehensive Cooperation Council.

The meeting covered topics such as technology innovation, finance, trade and business, and cultural exchange.

"China and Singapore have formed a comprehensive partnership that has kept pace with the times, and all-around cooperation has been fruitful," said Gong Zheng, mayor of Shanghai.

By providing mutual opportunities to one another, cooperation between Shanghai and Singapore will be elevated to a higher level, Gong added.

Since the first meeting launched in 2019, the Shanghai-Singapore Comprehensive Cooperation Council has enabled more and more Singaporean enterprises to set foot in Shanghai whilst also bringing business opportunities in China to the world.

In July, Raffles Medical Group opened its first Raffles Hospital in Shanghai. As the largest private medical services provider in Singapore, Raffles Hospital differentiates itself from China's public hospitals by integrating the concept of family general practitioners with China's domestic hospital operation, according to Vincent Chia, deputy managing director of Raffles China Healthcare.

"The successful launch of Raffles Hospital Shanghai would not have been possible without the support and guidance of the local government and health organizations. We are also looking forward to exploring more opportunities in China in the future," said Chia.

Another Singapore company involved in the meeting was CapitaLand, a property developer that first entered the China market in 1994. The company currently operates more than 200 projects in over 40 cities across China, with about a quarter of these projects located in Shanghai.

"CapitaLand's development in Shanghai and China serves as a bridge for Singaporean enterprises to enter into China. We want to continue to be the bridge between the two nations, and introduce Chinese brands to Singapore in the future," said Ervin Yeo, deputy chief executive officer of commercial management with CapitaLand Investment (China).

"Shanghai is the only city that hosts all kinds of businesses under CapitaLand, including residential apartments, shopping malls, office buildings, industrial parks, data centers, logistics facilities and serviced apartments," he added.

Among the Chinese companies present was XNode, which helps medium- and small-sized technology companies from Singapore enter China.

According to Zhou Wei, founder and CEO of XNode, the company has helped more than 30 technology start-ups establish a presence in China, with 20 of these enterprises now based in Shanghai.

XNode is also aiming to help outstanding technological enterprises in China expand their business in the Southeast Asia market via Singapore.

"We would like to show Chinese companies the role that Singapore plays in Southeast Asia. There are some 650 million people in Southeast Asia, and this emerging market should be extremely attractive to Chinese companies," said Zhou.