Chongqing, 4 November 2019… More than 500 government officials, central bankers, financial sector professionals and corporate leaders from China and ASEAN gathered at the second China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative (CCI) Financial Summit in Chongqing to discuss ways to enhance finance and trade linkages between China’s Western region and Southeast Asia.  The theme of this year’s Summit is Financial Connectivity along the “Belt and Road” ─ Financial Opening and Innovation to Promote the New International Land Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTCThe ILSTC is an important intersection between the “Belt” and the “Road” which aims to connect Europe, Central Asia and ASEAN through Belt and Road projects to China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt. It provides another channel to support trade, finance and economic growth between China and ASEAN. It reduces the duration of transporting goods between China and ASEAN to one-third the time.) (“金融互联互通·服务“一带一路”—金融开放创新助推陆海新通道”).

2          Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education and Board Member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in his welcome address at the Summit, noted that financial connectivity was key to supporting real economic activity and was the lifeblood of greater economic integration between China and ASEAN.

3          Participants at the Financial Summit will discuss cross border financing and investment opportunities in the Western Region of China and ASEAN, including infrastructure development of the ILSTC to enhance trade connectivity between China and ASEAN. There will also be an exchange of ideas and developments in other areas of common interest such as financial technology, green finance, as well as trade, logistics and supply chain financing.

***

About the Summit

The China – Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit is the signature event under the Financial Services pillar of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (CCI). The theme of this year’s Summit is Financial Connectivity along the “Belt and Road” ─ Financial Opening and Innovation to Promote the New International Land Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) ( “金融互联互通·服务“一带一路”—金融开放创新助推陆海新通道”).  The two-day Summit builds on the earlier Singapore-China (Chongqing) Financial Conferences which focused on opportunities for deeper financial collaboration between the two cities.

The Summit is co-organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Chongqing Connectivity Initiative Office, the China Ministry of Commerce, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government.

About CCI

The China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (CCI) is the third government-to-government collaboration project between Singapore and China.  Cooperation under the CCI covers four areas: (i) financial services; (ii) aviation; (iii) transport and logistics; and (iv) information and communications technology.  The vision for the Finance pillar is to promote Singapore-Chongqing connectivity and innovation in financial services to facilitate economic transformation in Western China.  Please refer to the infographic in the Annex for an overview of the key accomplishments under the Finance pillar.