The China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (Photo/ CCI Administrative Bureau )

Chongqing - China's metropolis Chongqing is expanding its international connectivity and innovation-driven cooperation with Singapore, as the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity marks its 10th anniversary this year, officials announced at a press conference on October 11.

According to Sun Xiyong, Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, the city has made significant progress in building the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a flagship logistics project under the Belt and Road Initiative that aims to connect China and Southeast Asia. The corridor now connects 577 ports across 127 countries and regions, facilitating trade and logistics between Western China and global markets. 

Singapore has remained Chongqing’s largest source of foreign investment, while ASEAN has become its biggest trading partner. Over the past five years, the corridor has helped drive China’s western region’s total trade with ASEAN beyond 1 trillion yuan, a 56.1% increase.

Chongqing and Singapore have also pioneered a series of institutional and technological innovations. Joint projects include a cross-border digital financial service platform by Ant Group, YuMaotong, and Singapore’s Pundarika to support trade with Africa; the nation’s first bonded aviation material distribution center operated by Singapore Airlines in Chongqing; and the joint management of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport’s commercial operations with Changi Airport, a model since replicated in Wuxi and Haikou.

This year, two Chongqing food producers were approved to export pork, poultry, beef, mutton, and eggs to Singapore — the first such approval from China’s central and western regions — paving the way for more local agri-products to reach global markets via Singapore.

Cultural exchanges have also flourished. The “Chongqing–Singapore Experience Week,” academic partnerships with top Singaporean institutions, and the city’s busiest international air route, which has 24 weekly flights, have strengthened bilateral ties as the two nations celebrate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations.