China's metropolis Shanghai and Singapore signed a series of cooperation agreements during the 6th Singapore-Shanghai Comprehensive Cooperation Council meeting held on Wednesday.
The agreements cover a wide range of areas, including Belt and Road construction, financial collaboration, technological innovation, digital economy, urban governance, and people-to-people exchange.
Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng, who co-chairs the SSCCC, emphasized the strong partnership between the two cities since the council's founding in 2019.
Gong expressed hope that both sides would further strengthen economic and trade ties, enhance financial opening-up and cooperation, promote mutual empowerment in science and technology, deepen cooperation in the digital economy, green development, and professional service industries, build a beautiful and livable city, and enrich the connotation of cultural exchanges.
Edwin Tong, Singapore's Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, who also co-chairs the council, noted that this year marks the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China.
He said that as global hubs for finance and innovation, Shanghai and Singapore can further expand collaboration in digital utilities, financial services, technological innovation, and urban renewal.
During the meeting, the Shanghai International Intellectual Property Operation Management Co., Ltd. and Singapore's KLTAN LLC signed a strategic cooperation agreement, as two sides will jointly establish a mechanism for the mutual recognition of intellectual property information, mutual trust in evaluations, and interoperable services to help companies from both countries more smoothly carry out their sci-tech planning, conduct risk assessments, and carry out patent transactions in each other's markets.
"[The cooperation] will facilitate the entry of international patents into China and take Chinese patents global so as to provide services that are safer, more convenient, and more efficient," said Pan Xi, president of the Shanghai International Intellectual Property Operation Management Co., Ltd. Sci-tech innovation has been identified as a key engine of future growth for both sides. The combination of Shanghai's innovative capabilities and market size with Singapore's global connectivity and strong intellectual property framework are expected to create a powerful complementary advantage. "[We] aim to leverage Shanghai's support for cloud native and artificial intelligence to accelerate the realization of the collaboration. In the meantime, we could also expand our product presence in the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets," said Liu Yang, co-founder and CEO of Scantist, a Singapore-based security research lab.
Shanghai, Singapore deepen ties with 18 cooperation pacts
