DPM Lawrence Wong's Media Wrap-up in Beijing, China

DPM Lawrence Wong: 我这次访问中国是首次跟丁薛祥副总理共同主持新中联委会会议,JCBC。这也是我们两国双边关系升级后，第一次举办会面。

我们这次的会议非常顺利，我们也争取到很好的成果， 这包括超过20项备忘录和协议。今年刚好也是天津生态城庆祝开发建设15周年，所以我们很高兴这次的会议能在天津举办。

升级版的新中关系包含了三大要素 - 全方位、高质量、还有前瞻性。这三大要素将指引我们双边合作的未来方向。

这包括我们对两国之间的主要合作项目，我们“3+1”的合作项目 - 苏州工业园区、天津生态城、重庆互联互通项目， 另外还有广州知识城。苏州工业园区明年将迎来第30周年，后年也是重庆互联互通项目的第10周年。我们在庆祝这些里程碑的同时，也会回顾过去的成果和制定下个阶段的发展方向。

除了这些项目，我们也会继续探讨新的合作领域，例如低碳能源，粮食安全和数码经济。

此外，两国人民之间的互动联系也很重要。 我们相信有了更便利的航空联通性，再加上互免签证安排落实之后，两国人民之间会有更多的交流，我有信心未来两国的合作也会变得更紧密，我们也会争取更好的成果。

The visit this time is my second visit to China. We had a fruitful and productive JCBC as you can see from the deliverables that have been achieved, 24 of them across many different areas and you can also see how comprehensive the cooperation is across so many different ministries and so many different aspects of the economy.

So it has been a very good outcome especially since it is the first JCBC meeting we had since the upgrading of our bilateral relations. It is also the first JCBC meetings that had been co-chaired by Vice Premier Ding and myself.

We look forward to continuing to advance our cooperation across all these different areas, in line with the broad principles that has been set out in our partnership which we want it to be comprehensive, high quality as well as future oriented. And this will apply to the “3+1” projects we have, the G-to-G projects in Suzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing as well as the provincial level project in Guangzhou.

It will also apply to new areas of cooperation that we are discussing, including in areas like low carbon energy, food security as well as digital economy.

And all of the cooperation we have are underpinned by close people to people ties. With more people connectivity, with more direct flights with the (30-day) visa exemption framework we are putting in place, we believe that will enable for more people flows and that will provide I think a very strong foundation for us to further enhance Singapore-China cooperation in a year to come.

Minister Desmond Lee: 大家下午好。我们今年庆祝中新天津生态城15周年，所以非常高兴能够在天津生态城主办今年的联委会，让两国领导亲临生态城，（见证）多年来丰硕的成果。

早在15年（前），我们两国领导就注重可持续发展和自然生态的保护，所以决定在盐碱荒地进行两国之间的合作项目。这15年来，我们把这片盐碱荒地改造成一个非常宜居的生态城，见证了两国之间合作所能达到的一些成果。

过去的15年，（我们）注重低碳可持续发展和（建设）宜居的生态城。接下来的15年，展望未来，我们现在是注重绿色经济发展，因为全世界现在面对的是一个棘手的问题，就是气候变化。可是每个国家都必须在进行应对气候变化的工作的时候，和经济发展之间要取得一个适当的，可持续性的，重要的平衡点。

所以，（两国）把生态城立为“国家绿色发展示范区”的升级版能让我们两国跟两国之间的企业在生态城示范不同的低碳，可持续发展的一些解决方案，能够在生态城，也可能在中国（其他城市）和其他国家做复制的工作。这不仅会拉近两国之间的关系，也能让我们的国人和新加坡企业通过生态城的合作受益。

我们在（生态城）15年周年庆的时候 定下 了15 项新合作项目，不仅是政府与政府之间的合作项目，也有商业合作，包括吉宝集团与新加坡中小型企业签署了一个“低碳和智慧城市企业联盟”的合作项目，让我们的中小型企业在生态城进行一些试点项目。同时，我们的新科大（SUTD）和其他的一些科研中心也跟天津签署了备忘录。所以，这不仅是政府之间，也是企业之间，和科研大学之间的，重要的合作项目。

我们会抓紧这个良机，加深两国之间的合作，充分地利用生态城升级版的项目来朝向低碳，可持续发展的重要宗旨（努力）。

We are very glad that to mark the 15th anniversary of the Tianjin Eco-City, we have the opportunity to hold the JCBC in Tianjin and the opportunity to see firsthand and close-up the work of a generation of leaders and officials and businesses, at a time when sustainability was not  yet on top of the global agenda.

Our two leaders, 15 years ago, decided to pursue the Eco-City project — perhaps the world's first government-to-government collaboration on environmental sustainability at the city level. And over the 15 years, you've seen how salt pans and polluted waterbodies have been transformed into the highly livable environment you see today, where smart technology is now enabling life to be better.

This has not only benefited bilateral relations, but has enabled Singaporeans and our enterprises to benefit through the Eco-City project in test-bedding solutions for wider applicability, because the market here (in China) is large, and Tianjin is one of the gateways to the Jing-Jin-Ji region, which is a major zone here in China.

On the 15th anniversary (of the Eco-City), we launched 15 new cooperation initiatives: government-to-government, among businesses,  and among researchers. So it's a very comprehensive next bound (for TEC) that we're looking into,  focusing on the refreshed “3+2” framework: one vertical pillar on green growth,  one vertical pillar on low-carbon living, and a third vertical on ecological resilience; and two important horizontals focusing on innovation and talent development, as well as on governance.

And on top of that, we are going to work closely with our Tianjin counterparts and the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in China, because Tianjin Eco-City will now be the upgraded version of the National Green Development Demonstration Zone. So the next bound of TEC development in the next 15 years builds upon the efforts to promote sustainable living, and now focusing very much on green and sustainable low-carbon development.

(Green and sustainable development) is a conundrum that all countries around the world face, because in the pursuit of development, how do you balance that with the carbon imperative — how to reach net-zero — all countries have the target.

And so this Eco-City project allows us to collaborate with our Chinese counterparts, allows businesses from Singapore to also collaborate (with Chinese businesses), to try to strike a balance — test and pilot different solutions that allow enterprises to flourish whilst keeping a close eye on carbon emissions.

So we look forward to this work. And of course PSA and MPA signed MOUs with Tianjin port operators and authorities to promote digital and green shipping. And that really adds to the overall proposition of the upgraded Eco-City — not just green economy, but also digital and green shipping. And I think that will create lots of opportunities for Singaporeans and our businesses as well.

Acting Minister Chee Hong Tat: As DPM and Minister Desmond Lee mentioned, we want to strengthen connectivity between Singapore and China, building on our strengths as an air hub and a maritime port – we’re the world’s largest trans-shipment hub port – as well as taking into account the more recent developments in green economy and digital economy. There are two areas that we wanted to discuss and follow up further under the framework of JCBC with our Chinese counterparts.

First, the 30-day visa exemption waiver for both countries. I believe this will increase demand for travel for businesses and tourists. To facilitate this, we will be looking at how we can increase the number of direct flights between Singapore and China. Right now, we are at about 75% of pre pandemic levels. We will be discussing with the Chinese Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of China, on how we can further increase the number of direct flights – first to restore fully to pre-pandemic levels, and also to go beyond and see whether we can surpass pre pandemic levels. I think that will benefit the travellers and businesses from both countries. We have already received some requests from Chinese carriers to increase the number of flights during Chinese New Year in 2024. We will be happy to support this and we will see how we can facilitate the arrangements.

On the maritime side, we are starting with Tianjin Port, with whom we signed the Green and Digital Shipping Corridor agreement. This is a concept where we can look at how to further strengthen supply chain sustainability and resilience between Singapore and Tianjin, tapping on the strengths of both ports. It is a good concept that we can then extend to other major ports in China, including Qingdao and Shanghai. We also have opportunities to work with cities like Chongqing and Suzhou, by tapping on the technology companies and startups to look at how we can promote more collaborations maritime technology.

刚刚副总理跟李部长都谈到了，我们要怎么样增加和中国之间的合作。这就包括了我们在互联 通方面的合作。新加坡是一个航空枢纽，也是一个海港，所以我们充分利用我们在这两方面的势，也考虑到近年来的一些经济上的发展，例如绿色经济的发展跟数码经济的发展。

我们希望在两方面能够和中方进一步地加强我们的合作。第一就是30天的互免签证安排，我们相信这会增加双方的游客跟企业的交流和互动，所以直飞航班的数量就必须增加。我们目前是在冠病疫情前水平的大概75%左右，所以我们会和中国的交通部还有民航局进行讨论，尽快地恢复我们航班的数量到疫情前的百分之百，甚至可以超越。我们已经收到了中国的一些航空公司的申请要增加他们在农历新年期间的航班次数，所以我们会支持他们的申请，做出适当的安排。

在海运方面，我们也和天津港签署了一个绿色数码船运走廊。这个概念是要加强我们供应链的可持续性，并确保它有效地运作，以增加供应链的韧性。这个概念其实不只是天津港，我们也可以扩展到中国的其他的港口，包括了青岛和上海。

我们也能够和重庆、苏州一起来进行合作，增加在这方面的合作，通过科技公司来推动在海运方面的科技的一些发展。