Chongqing - On Jan. 16 -17,  the Chongqing Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) invited consuls (general), consulate staff members, other diplomats to watch the live broadcast of Chongqing Two Sessions opening ceremony. Following the government work report made by the acting mayor Hu Henghua, iChongqing interviewed Mr. Tan Chee King, Consul-General of the Republic of Singapore in Chengdu, to share his insights on attending the 2022 Chongqing Two Sessions. 

Tan stated that the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative (CCI) mentioned in the government work report would contribute to deeper cooperation between Singapore and Chongqing, especially in trade and logistics.

"I look forward to establishing the multi-modal demonstration project in Guoyuan Port, which I think is a key highlight of Chongqing's aspirations to be a logistics node in Western China," Tan said during the interview.

He also learned about the emphasis on developing the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle from the report. "Singapore has strong economic relations with both Sichuan province as well as Chongqing municipality. So I also look forward to exploring the greater potential for cooperation in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle," said Tan.

According to Tan, Singapore and China have had strong cooperation over the years and have maintained the exchanges throughout the pandemic. He spoke of the bilateral talk last October between President Xi Jinping and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Both leaders agreed to explore deeper cooperation between Singapore and China in digital and green economies.

Last December, at the 17th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting – the highest-level annual forum between China and Singapore - CCI was endorsed by both sides for the international land-sea trade corridor, according to Tan.

In 2021, Chongqing and Singapore had initiated the next five-year stage for the CCI cooperation, and have signed contracts with a total value of 25 billion USD in business projects and 23.2 billion USD in financial projects, according to the Government Work Report delivered at the 2022 Chongqing Two Sessions.