Singapore and Zhejiang to deepen collaboration in digital economy

SINGAPORE - Singapore and China’s eastern Zhejiang province are setting up a new work group that will promote the flow of data across the two markets and facilitate investment and research collaborations between their digital economy enterprises.

This was announced at the 17th Singapore-Zhejiang Economic and Trade Council (SZETC) meeting on Tuesday, which was co-chaired by Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann and Zhejiang Vice-Governor Lu Shan.

The new work group aims to drive cooperation in the digital economy, which is a key focus area and priority for both Singapore and Zhejiang, said Ms Sim. In 2021, Zhejiang’s digital economy share of its gross domestic product was the highest among Chinese provinces, while Singapore is ranked top in Asia in the IMD 2022 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking.

Ms Sim noted in a speech at the meeting held at Shangri-La Singapore that economic ties between the Republic and Zhejiang have advanced steadily.

“Despite growing uncertainties in the global economic environment, I am confident that Singapore and Zhejiang can emerge stronger together, leveraging the strong foundation built up over the years to sustain high-quality and future-oriented partnerships in new areas,” she said.

The SZETC consists of government and private sector representatives from Singapore and Zhejiang, and aims to promote economic exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.

A total of 16 agreements, including 12 memorandums of understanding (MOUs), were signed at the meeting between partners from both sides to enhance collaborations in trade, investment and connectivity, innovation cooperation and exchanges, and the digital economy.

For example, Singapore digital government solutions firm CrimsonLogic signed a commercial contract with Zhejiang Electronic Port to work on the digitalisation of cross-border trade and logistics which will help enterprises in both Singapore and Zhejiang reduce the time needed for Customs clearance.

Ms Sim said digitalisation can help to enhance the capabilities of different industries. “Zhejiang is China’s e-commerce hub and is at the forefront of newer forms of digital content creation such as live streaming. Singapore and Zhejiang companies can explore working together on these areas, share best practices and test-bed digital solutions to benefit our companies.”

Enterprise Singapore said the number of Singapore projects in Zhejiang reached more than 1,600 at the end of 2022. These projects span various sectors including urban solutions, transport and logistics, healthcare and biomedical, and manufacturing.

In a new tie-up, Singapore-based cancer diagnostics start-up Mirxes and Zhejiang Anji Economic Development District Management Committee are joining hands to build up an annual production capacity of up to 100 million units of various early cancer detection products, with both sides signing an MOU on Tuesday. 

On the innovation cooperation and exchanges front, Ms Sim said innovation is an important area of mutual interest, where both Singapore and Zhejiang can tap the synergies of each other’s ecosystem.

“More can be done by extending innovation efforts to involve other stakeholders such as institutes of higher learning and accelerators,” she said.

Ms Sim also highlighted that Zhejiang has a robust privately owned enterprises sector, with many firms keen to seek global opportunities.

“Singapore is a good landing pad for them, given our pro-business environment, and to partner Singapore companies to expand into South-east Asia,” she said, adding that there were nearly 400 Zhejiang firms based here as at March 2023.

Ms Sim noted that with the

reinstatement of the 15-day visa-free entry for Singaporeans travelling to China,

the council hopes to step up people-to-people exchanges between Singapore and Zhejiang.

“One way to do so is via the Singapore-China Youth Interns Exchange Scheme that was recently launched,” she said.

It is the first bilateral internship exchange scheme that Singapore has signed with another country, and is implemented by Business China and the PRC National Centre of Human Resources Mobility. It allows students from Singapore and Zhejiang to intern at companies under the scheme.

Two-way trade between Singapore and Zhejiang grew at an annual compounded rate of 16.6 per cent from 2019 to 2022 to reach US$8.25 billion (S$11.2 billion) despite the pandemic.

Zhejiang’s gross domestic product, valued at 7.77 trillion yuan (S$1.45 trillion) in 2022, is the fourth largest among China’s 22 provinces.