A meeting aimed at boosting financial cooperation between China and Singapore took place in southwest China's Chongqing municipality today. Our reporter Wei Lynn Tang looked at how Chongqing and China as a whole are benefitting from closer cooperation with one of ASEAN's most competitive economies.

Strengthening financial cooperation and cross-border flows between China and South-East Asia in the face of rising protectionism.

That's one of the key takeaways from governmental and financial regulatory authorities – at the first ever China-Singapore Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit, an extension of the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative, or CCI, established in 2015.

RAVI MENON MANAGING DIRECTOR, MONETARY AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE "Trade conflicts are bad for confidence. Businesses around the world may scale back investment amid uncertainty. Fundamentals for growth for China and ASEAN are strong, and if we can deepen and broaden the integration between our two regions, it will mitigate impact of trade tensions and help to sustain Asia dynamism and long-term growth."

WEI LYNN TANG CHONGQING "China is Singapore's largest trading partner, while Singapore is one of the biggest foreign direct investors in China. The CCI has helped boost relations between the two countries and has enabled Chongqing companies to raise funds--at lower than average rates--from Singapore's financial centre. Last year, Sino-Singapore cross-border financing deals amounted to 7.6 billion US dollars."

KNG HWEE TIN CEO, OCBC BANK (CHINA) "In a lot of Western parts of China here, Chongqing being the base again, a lot of the banks would not have the ability or current channels to reach out to Southeast Asian markets in terms of financing opportunities for their clients."

Another key theme of this summit was capital markets – and how they can better serve China's massive international development projects under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.

China's securities superintendent says it plans to broaden channels for direct financing and urges enterprises involved in the initiative to make full use of domestic and overseas markets to raise funds.

FANG XINGHAI VICE CHAIRMAN, CHINA SECURITIES REGULATORY COMMISSION "The CSRC is willing to deepen bilateral capital market cooperation with Singapore's MAS in the framework of the Belt & Road, actively promote cross-border investment and financing, and strengthen cross border supervision and law enforcement cooperation."

Dozens of cooperation agreements have been reached between more than 40 Chinese and Singapore entities.

These deals could provide as much as a trillion yuan -- or 145 billion US dollars -- in financial support to the municipality over the next five years

WEI LYNN TANG CHONGQING "With Chongqing serving as a gateway to Western China, and Singapore to that of ASEAN, both China and Singapore are keen to use each other's advantages and strengths, to further bring about financial integration and impetus in the region and beyond. WLT, CGTN, Chongqing."