Chongqing - The 5th China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit (CCI-FS) commenced on April 20 in Southwest China's Chongqing and Singapore, featuring leaders from both Singaporean and Chinese governments, financial departments, and heads from ten central banks of ASEAN countries presented at the opening ceremony.

 

"Singapore-Chongqing collaboration in financial services has evolved in tandem with the broadening of our cooperation under the CCI, from providing traditional cross-border financing to companies in Chongqing and China," said Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs of Singapore, at the opening ceremony via video link. "Our collaboration has expanded to include green and sustainable finance areas."

Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, presented at the opening ceremony and delivered a speech for the summit.

"The CCI-FS has been a well of financial cooperation between Chongqing and Singapore. Since its inception in 2015, it has collected more than 2,000 policymakers and industry leaders from ASEAN and China to exchange ideas and explore new areas of cooperation. Today, the CCI has facilitated 239 cross-border financing deals with over USD 29 billion. In 2022 alone, 27 financing deals worth about USD 6 billion were concluded," he said.

Other participating guests include consuls general of RCEP member countries in Chongqing, Chengdu, and Kunming, leaders of the regions along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), and executives of large financial institutions, multinational companies, and global financial scholars.

"There are three aspects when we talk about financial connectivity. Infrastructure, Organization, and financial technology application. Asian countries have developed strong financial technology, including digital currency and mobile payment," He Haifeng, chief economist of Guotai Junan Securities, said after the opening ceremony during an interview. "These three aspects of financial connectivity will greatly help the economic recovery for China, Asia, and the world."

During the opening ceremony, 90 projects related to the China-Singapore financial cooperation and the construction of the ILSTC and Western Financial Center were signed, reaching 111 billion yuan (USD16 billion).

Centered on the topics of financial co-founding of the Belt and Road, the implementation of RCEP, the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and the ILSTC, the two-day summit will hold 12 main events and nine special events. 

The events will concentrate on the cooperation and co-construction mechanism of financial services in the ILSTC, exploring the digital innovation of financial models, proposing strategies for building digital financial service platforms, and promoting financial connectivity and green finance innovation.

Since 2018, the CCI-FS has been held consecutively four times. Over the past seven years, Chongqing and Singapore have deepened their financial cooperation under the CCI. Chongqing enterprises invested more than USD 60 million in Singapore, and Singaporean institutions directly invested USD 3.4 billion in Chongqing.

The 5th CCI-FS is jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce of China, People's Bank of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Chongqing Municipal Government.