"Shandong and Singapore enjoy close ties in many areas, and there is still much room to grow the relationship," said Hong Xiaoyong, the Chinese Ambassador to Singapore.

Hong made the remarks during his online speech at the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" ASEAN special event, which was held on Sept 22 in Jinan, capital of Shandong.

Hong Xiaoyong, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn]

Official statistics showed that Singapore is the second largest source of foreign investment in Shandong. In 2019, the import and export volume between the two sides reached $2.58 billion, while actual foreign investment from Singapore hit $750 million, up 189.4 percent year-on-year.

"Shandong was the first province in China to establish an economic and trade cooperation mechanism with Singapore. Over the past 20 years, the scale of trade between the two sides has been continuously expanding, growing 10-fold during that time," said Hong.

He mentioned that many Shandong companies are listed in Singapore, and this year the city of Zibo in Shandong also opened a representative office in Singapore, demonstrating its willingness to further promote cooperation.

According to the ambassador, a new industrial pattern is being formed in Shandong with the cultivation of new growth drivers, innovation in information technology, and the manufacturing of high-end equipment, which has injected new impetus into the province's economic transformation and further opening up.

He said that Singapore has also increased investment in scientific research and innovation, with priority given to artificial intelligence, biomedicine and other new industries.

"The two sides have distinct complementary advantages and huge potential for development."