|
SINGAPORE, Nov. 10-- China and Singapore are jointly exploring potentials for further cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with recent moves to deepen economic and trade relations. At the sidelines of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, China's Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying and Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing jointly announced the conclusion of negotiations on the upgraded China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA). Chan said the upgrade signals both countries' joint commitment towards not only greater economic collaboration but also trade liberalization. Indeed, trade liberalization is important for both countries under the BRI. Ning Jizhe, deputy head of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said at the first Singapore-China BRI Investment Forum in October that free trade had become a distinctive feature of China-Singapore cooperation. He said at the forum that China had become Singapore's largest trading partner since 2013, and Singapore had become China's largest source of investment also for five consecutive years. By the end of 2017, the cumulative investment of Singapore to China was over 90 billion U.S. dollars, and that of China to Singapore was over 36.6 billion dollars. The two countries recorded a bilateral trade value of 79.2 billion dollars in 2017, up 12.4 percent year on year. The BRI, proposed by China in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road. | 
