Liangjiang New Area and Singapore Intensify Strategic Connectivity via CCI

The cooperation between Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area and Singapore has been gaining momentum since the initiation of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (CCI) in 2015. The partnership mainly focuses on finance, transportation and logistics, information communication, and aviation, to position Liangjiang New Area as a key hub.

Inflow of foreign capital into Chongqing

As of May this year, Liangjiang New Area has inked a total of 45 China-Singapore cooperation projects, making up approximately 18% of the city's total. These projects amount to a signed value of 10.98 billion US dollars, contributing about 43% to the city's total.

Liangjiang New Area has effectively opened up the China-Singapore financing channel in the financial sector, offering enterprises opportunities for overseas financing.

They have accomplished 40 financing projects, collectively comprising 2.5 billion US dollars. A notable achievement in this domain was the successful listing of Sasseur Outlets, a significant international chain group, on the Singapore stock exchange in March 2018. It marked the first REIT project listed in Singapore from central and western China, with a total financing value of 4.27 billion yuan (about 597 million US dollars).

The cooperation under the CCI has also spurred a considerable inflow of foreign capital into Chongqing and Liangjiang New Area. This has benefitted several industrial entities, including Chongqing Yujiang Die Casting Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Holroyd Precision Rotors Manufacturing Co., Ltd., both of which have received cross-border loans.

Stretching out to countries along the Belt and Road

As for logistics, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) has been instrumental in bolstering cooperation between the two sides.

An express train laden with automobile and motorcycle parts recently left Guoyuan Port, journeying through the Chinese Qinzhou Port and Singapore and finally reaching the Port of Aden. The Sino Singapore (Chongqing) DC Multimodal Logistics Co., Ltd., located in the Guoyuan Port Logistics Hub, made this accomplishment feasible. The company aims to establish a professional, intelligent, green, and international multimodal transport hub and logistics center.

As of June, the total volume of the base's warehousing service exceeds 11,000 TEUs, and the total circulation value surpasses 1.67 billion yuan (approximately 233 million US dollars). Impressively, 293 trains were dispatched from Guoyuan Port in the first half of this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 7.9%. This extended reach includes countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

The field of information has also seen notable advancements, with nearly 50 Chongqing and Singaporean enterprises cooperating in telemedicine, distance education, smart tourism, and intelligent logistics.

Furthermore, Liangjiang New Area has committed itself to aviation projects, particularly bonded aircraft financial leasing. Nine aircraft leasing projects have been executed to date, with a total value of 520 million US dollars.

Broadening its scope of cooperation, Liangjiang New Area is also collaborating with Singapore in education, medical care, and the digital economy. The Chongqing Institute of the National University of Singapore, situated in Liangjiang New Area, has already established four research centers and applied for 19 invention patents.

Qin Shubin, the Liangjiang New Area Administrative Committee's vice director, stated that the CCI had been a crucial platform for Liangjiang's opening up over the past eight years. The area intends to intensify its collaboration with ASEAN countries, attracting more international entities to settle and spurring further development.

(This article is written by Dai Yuan,Liangjiang New Area Media Center)