China and Singapore Join Hands to Explore a New Future of Sustainable Cooperation
A China-Singapore sustainable development cooperation and exchange conference with the theme of "Carbon Traceability and Green Future" and an introduction to the city of Jinan was held in Jinan on October 29. Government representatives, entrepreneurs and experts from China and Singapore gathered in the city to have in-depth discussions on green transformation, industrial cooperation and urban development.
In his speech, Liu Qiang, Secretary of the Jinan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, comprehensively introduced the achievements of Jinan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, Jinan's comprehensive strength has significantly increased, with per capita GDP rising from 16,400 yuan in 2020 to 20,000 yuan in 2024, initially reaching the national standard for modernization.
As one of the first pilot cities for "Science and Technology China", Jinan's added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size has grown by more than 12% annually on average. Its green development has been remarkable, with cumulative energy consumption per unit of GDP dropping by 23.5% and the proportion of good air quality days increasing by 5.4 percentage points.
Coinciding with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, Singapore's Ambassador to China, Chen Haiquan, said in his speech that Singapore has always regarded Shandong as an important partner. This conference has provided a key platform for deepening cooperation in the field of sustainable development between the two sides.
"Foreign investment is not just a one-time investment, but also requires a stable, fair and predictable business environment," Chen Haiquan said. He believed that the establishment of the Shandong Singapore Enterprise Service Center in Jinan has provided precise support for Singaporean enterprises to settle down. In the future, both sides can rely on such platforms to continuously upgrade economic and trade exchanges and industrial cooperation.
In recent years, the Jinan New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion Pilot Zone has become an important carrier of China-Singapore cooperation. "The pilot zone's regional GDP has grown by an average of 10% annually over the past four years, reaching 52.76 billion yuan in 2024, and fixed asset investment has grown by an average of 23.3% annually," said Sun Bin, member of the Jinan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and deputy secretary of the Jinan New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion Pilot Zone Party Working Committee. The pilot zone is working with Singapore to build a 66-square-kilometer future industrial city, focusing on future information, future energy and future space, and has currently advanced 27 cooperation projects.
Jiao Quansheng, the CEO and board director of Shengyu Group, who was invited to attend the event, stated that China is a crucial practice ground for global green transformation, while Singapore has mature experience in transitioning from a "garden city" to a "natural city". He proposed that in the future, the two sides could collaborate in areas such as "people-oriented green cities", "energy transformation driving economic growth", and "AI enabling urban resilience development", focusing on deepening the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and building a dual carbon certification system.
At the event, the "Annual Report on China-Singapore Green Industry Investment Cooperation (2025)" was officially released. Li Yixian, an economic advisor of the Shandong Provincial Government, systematically analyzed the cooperation opportunities and practical experiences in the green sector between the two countries when interpreting the report. It is known that in 2024, the trade volume between Shandong and Singapore reached 73.9 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 28%. Singapore enterprises have accumulated over 2,000 projects in Shandong, and the economic compatibility and complementarity between the two sides have continued to improve.
Liu Qiang stated that opening up to the outside world is China's basic national policy. Jinan will rely on platforms such as the New and Old Energy Transformation Pilot Zone and the Free Trade Zone to continuously optimize the business environment and provide more investment scenarios for Singapore enterprises. At the same time， it encourages Jinan enterprises to leverage Singapore's influence to reach out to the markets in Southeast Asia and promote cooperation between "Singapore City" and "Jinan City" "with each blossom growing higher and higher" on the new starting point of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore.
The China-Singapore Sustainable Development Cooperation Exchange Conference and the Jinan City Promotion Conference is one of the important activities of the Fourth Confucian Businessmen Conference. It is hosted by the Jinan Municipal Government and aims to deepen China-Singapore cooperation and promote green development. The Fourth Confucian Businessmen Conference was held in Jinan， Shandong Province from October 29th to 31st.