China, Singapore launch 3rd G-to-G project in Chongqing

SINGAPORE, Nov. 7 -- China and Singapore agreed Saturday to designate Chongqing, a sprawling metropolis in southwestern China, as the site of their third government-to-government (G-to-G) project.

The Chongqing project was among a raft of deals the two countries inked in the morning in the presence of visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Currently, China and Singapore have two G-to-G projects -- the Suzhou Industrial Park established in 1994 in east China's Jiangsu Province and the Tianjin Eco-city inaugurated in 2008 in north China's port city of Tianjin.

Planned as an important nodal point for the "Belt and Road" initiative aimed at reviving the ancient trade routes that span Asia, Africa and Europe, the Chongqing project features the theme of "modern connectivity and modern services."

Singapore hopes the Chongqing project could "suit China's development needs and fit in China's major plans such as the Western Region Development, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Belt and Road Initiative," Lee told Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in an interview published on Friday.

Lee also suggested the project break new ground in bilateral cooperation.

Chongqing, as one of the four municipalities directly under the Chinese central government, now enjoys a thriving economy and is one of China's fastest-growing cities since 2014, with its economy expanding at 11 percent in the first three quarters of this year.

Since 2013, Singapore has been China's largest foreign investor for two consecutive years. Between 1990 and 2014, Singapore's cumulative investment in China totaled 72.3 billion U.S. dollars, according to official data from Singapore.