Interviewee: Zhang Yuquan, researcher at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Sun Yat-sen University.
In recent years, relying on the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Demonstration Project, Chongqing and Singapore have built diversified cross-border financing channels to promote efficient inter-regional connectivity. The photo shows people visiting the exhibition hall of the China-Singapore Connectivity Project at Raffles City Chongqing. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Quanchao.
A meeting of the China-Singapore Bilateral Cooperation Mechanism was held recently. The meeting announced 24 outcomes. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao** reported that China continues to expand regional cooperation, and Singapore continues to participate in it. The two countries will also strengthen cooperation in areas such as financial connectivity, food security, and smart cities.
Sputnik** is concerned that China and Singapore have recently agreed to exempt each other from visas for ordinary passport holders. The competent authorities of the two countries are in close communication on specific matters. According to the report, the realization of full mutual visa exemption between China and Singapore is a great thing for the people of the two countries, and the two sides look forward to the early entry into force of the relevant arrangement.
China and Singapore are friendly neighbors separated by a strip of water. In recent years, China-Singapore practical cooperation in various fields has been continuously promoted.
In the field of diplomacy, in March this year, in line with the general trend of cooperation and development of the times, China and New Zealand announced that they would upgrade their bilateral relations from an "all-round cooperative partnership that keeps pace with the times" to a "forward-looking partnership of all-round and high-quality". The two sides have reached a number of cooperation documents in the fields of economy and trade, science and technology, food, law, environmental protection, and art.
In the field of economy and trade, Singapore is one of the developed countries that has reached an upgrade of the free ** agreement with China. On 8 December 2020, China and Singapore jointly announced the launch of negotiations on further upgrading the China-Singapore FTA. Over the past three years, the working teams of the two sides have conducted several rounds of intensive consultations and successfully completed all negotiations. Not long ago, China and Singapore signed a protocol to further upgrade the China-Singapore Freedom Agreement. In the upgraded protocol, China and Singapore have made commitments on service and investment liberalization in the form of a negative list, expanding market space for investors and service providers on both sides.
At the same time, the bilateral cooperation mechanism between China and New Zealand has been continuously enriched. China and Singapore have established a high-level bilateral cooperation mechanism, the China-Singapore Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation. Singapore has set up economic and trade councils in eight provinces, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Tianjin and Zhejiang. In addition, China and Singapore have also reached three first-class projects in Suzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing, as well as a national bilateral project in Guangzhou Knowledge City.
There is a good foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and New Zealand. China is the world's second largest economy and the world's largest cargo country, with broad market opportunitiesSingapore is strategically located and has the advantages of thriving shipping, convenience and developed finance. At present, the development momentum of bilateral relations is strong, and the Belt and Road Initiative has accumulated fruitful results. Since 2013, China has been Singapore's largest partner for 10 consecutive years. In the first 10 months of this year, the total bilateral value of China and Singapore was US$88.7 billion, and Singapore was China's fifth largest partner in ASEAN during the same period. At the same time, Singapore is also one of the main destinations for Chinese enterprises to "go global". In the first half of this year, Chinese enterprises made 801 non-financial direct investments in the "Belt and Road" countries700 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 233%, mainly invested in countries, with Singapore ranking first.
The expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and New Zealand has sent a positive signal to the international community. In today's world, protectionism and unilateralism are on the rise, and economic globalization has encountered twists and turnsAt the same time, geopolitical tensions continue to pose, and global security governance is facing challenges. Openness or closure, cooperation or confrontation are the choices that the world faces. Against this international backdrop, China and New Zealand have strengthened high-quality cooperation, jointly promoted freedom, and promoted regional openness and inclusiveness, undoubtedly conveying the message of "openness, not closure".Cooperation, not confrontation". Not long ago, China and Singapore agreed to exempt each other from visas for ordinary passport holders. This measure demonstrates the attitude of openness and cooperation, and is expected to promote the exchange of enterprises and personnel between the two countries, so as to further benefit the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
China and New Zealand have always had close cooperation. In the foreseeable future, China and Singapore will continue to carry out all-round practical cooperation, consolidating cooperation in advantageous fields such as infrastructure and shipbuilding, and expanding cooperation in new fields such as digital economy and artificial intelligence. As China and New Zealand continue to expand the path of mutually beneficial cooperation, the people of China and New Zealand will also have a better life.
Lin Zihan and Jiang Zihao interviewed and organized).