China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit (CCI-FS) 
will be held in Chongqing and Singapore parallelly from November 23 to 24, the 
Information Office of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government announced on 
November 15.

CCI-FS this year will be held under the theme: Deepening China-ASEAN Financial 
Cooperation, Creating a New Paradigm of Interconnectivity.

As a key event under the third intergovernmental cooperation project between 
China and Singapore, CCI-FS has been successfully held for three times. In 
November 2015, the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on 
Strategic Connectivity (CCI) was officially launched with financial services as 
one of its four priority areas. In the past six years, our vision to reduce 
financing cost in western China and benefit the whole world by strengthening 
financial cooperation between China and Singapore has become a reality.

Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, shipping and air transportation have been 
hampered, however, the cargo volume along China-Europe Railway Express has 
instead increased despite the disruptions, a vital support to Europe in 
fighting COVID-19 and maintaining the stability of global supply chain.

The success of China-Europe freight train services cannot be made without CCI 
cross-border financing projects.

Under the CCI framework, Chongqing International Logistics Hub, where the 
starting terminal of China-Europe Railway Express, i.e. Chongqing Tuanjiecun 
Railway is located, issued bonds worth USD500 million in Singapore with lower 
cost than that in the domestic market. The issuance has raised funds for 
infrastructure construction in the hub, so that financial cooperation plays its 
role to create a better port terminal.

This is a miniature of successful CCI financial cooperation. Up to now, 
Chongqing's cross-border financing under the CCI totaled USD15.5 billion with 
its comprehensive financing cost 1.03 percentage points lower than domestic 
level, and the whole western China region has raised over USD5.7 billion in 
Singapore.

The benefits of CCI financial cooperation have been shared by the world.

The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) serves as a major 
international logistics channel between China and Southeast Asian countries. By 
means of railway, sea and road, goods from western China can travel southward 
and access the world market through coastal and border ports such as Guangxi 
and Yunnan, with shorter time compared with the traditional route from eastern 
China.

Meanwhile, the CCI cross-border financial services are empowering the ILSTC. A 
financial service platform jointly built by China and Singapore for the 
corridor provides convenient and low-cost financial services for logistics, 
trade and manufacturing enterprises along the route, and also empowers its 
operation companies.

For instance, electronic products made in the Vietnam factory of LG Group 
arrived in Chongqing via the ILSTC, and then were transported to Europe through 
the China-Europe Railway Express, thus cutting logistics duration by over a 
half compared with sea transportation. Likewise, Made-in-Germany goods are 
transported to Southeast Asian markets through the two corridors with halved 
logistics duration.

Therefore, the ILSTC has lowered both transportation time and service cost 
among China, Southeast Asian and European countries, and thus enabled related 
companies to better share the fruits of sustained economic growth and regional 
integration.

"In the past five years, Chongqing and Singapore have enhanced financial 
connectivity between western China and ASEAN countries through the CCI 
financial cooperation," said Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary 
Authority of Singapore (MAS). 

"In the next five years, China and Singapore will seize new opportunities, 
implement the Five-Year Plan of CCI Financial Cooperation with high standards, 
and make new gounds in bilateral financial cooperation," said Ruan Lu, Director 
General of Chongqing Financial Regulatory Bureau.

Source: The Information Office of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government