Chinese companies raise 8 bln USD through China-Singapore program

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Chinese firms have raised around 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in cross-border financing deals through a China-Singapore inter-government program over the past three years.

The deals involve various financing channels such as international commercial loans, real estate investment trust and foreign debt, according to Han Baochang, director of the program's administration bureau based in Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday.

The program has effectively reduced financing costs for businesses in western regions, including Chongqing, provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Qinghai, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Chongqing became the operation center of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity in 2016.

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

A China-Singapore land-sea trade corridor, jointly built by provinces in west China and ASEAN countries under the framework of the initiative, has linked 155 ports in 71 countries and regions worldwide, better connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

With Chongqing as the transportation hub, the corridor uses ports in Guangxi's Beibu Gulf to reach ports in Singapore and other ASEAN countries and links China-Europe freight trains launched from many cities in west China before heading for Central Asia, South Asia and Europe.

It is the third such deal between the two countries, following the Suzhou Industrial Park established in the eastern province of Jiangsu in 1994, and the Tianjin Eco-city inaugurated in north China in 2008.

China and Singapore have also strengthened innovative cooperation in financial sectors. Under the China-Singapore initiative, an investment fund valued at 100 billion yuan (around 15 billion U.S. dollars) was jointly established.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency