Companies raise $6b through China-Singapore joint program

Companies based in China have raised more than $6 billion through 64 cross-border financing deals using a China-Singapore inter-government program over the past two years.

The deals involve overseas bond issues, commercial loans and financial leasing, according to the program’s administration bureau.

It is believed that the program has effectively reduced financing costs for businesses in the western regions of China.

Southwest China’s Chong qing Municipality became the operation center of the ChinaSingapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity in 2016.

The initiative aims to conduct trials of cooperation in fields including financial services, aviation, logistics and information technology.

It is the third such bilateral deal, following the Suzhou Industrial Park established in East China’s Jiangsu Province in 1994, and the eco-city in North China’s Tianjin Municipality inaugurated in 2008.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in September that his country expects the project on inter-connectivity cooperation to play a significant role in the development of western China.

Based on inter-connectivity and modern services, the project is aimed at “maximizing the potential of enterprises by facilitating and streamlining their mechanisms, operation and services,” Lee said.

In 2017, Chongqing handled cross-border yuan-denominated settlements of 79.1 billion yuan ($12.51 billion), surpassing other western regions of the country, according to a post on the website of the State Council, China’s cabinet, in February.