SHANGHAI - Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing arrives on Sunday (Nov 4) in Shanghai for a three-day visit to attend the inaugural China International Import Expo (CIIE), a trade fair that is solely focused on imports.
He will attend the opening ceremony of the trade fair and tour the Singapore commercial pavilions.
The trade fair in Shanghai, slated to be held annually, will run for six days from Nov 5 to 10.
It was first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in May last year.
The world's No 2 economy aims to use this trade fair to demonstrate its commitment to further open up its market by facilitating greater access to imports.
Through this trade fair, China also wants to import high-quality products and advanced technology to help promote the upgrading of its traditional industries, said one of China's vice-commerce ministers Chen Bingnan at a media briefing on Saturday ahead of the expo opening.
Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a press statement that Singapore companies, with their strong branding and commitment to high quality standards, are in a good position to introduce differentiated products and services to China's huge and growing domestic market.
"Singapore's participation in the CIIE will allow Singapore companies to take part in business matching sessions and explore collaborations with Chinese partners to help them enter and expand into China," the ministry added.
Last year, Singapore was China's largest overseas investment destination along the Belt and Road, drawing in about 22 per cent of China's total outbound investments to the Belt and Road countries, according to the statement.
China has been Singapore's top investment destination since 1997 as well as the Republic's largest trading partner since 2013.
Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Dr Koh Poh Koon, will also be in Shanghai from Nov 6 to 8 to speak at the China-Singapore Trade in Services Innovation Forum on the sidelines of the CIIE and to attend other fringe events.
Mr Chan and Dr Koh are accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Enterprise Singapore.
