Mr Tan Zhiyong, President of the China Enterprises Association (Singapore),
Mr Kho Choon Keng, President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI),
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,

Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to participate in today's event. The theme of this symposium is "China, An Opportunity", and I am sure you are all very keen on why the opportunities are in China and how Singapore can capitalize on them. To answer these questions, I would like to share with you my views on the current China's economy situation and China-Singapore economic and trade cooperation.

I. What's going on with China's economy?

For some time now, global geopolitical conflicts have intensified, the impetus for international cooperation has been weakened, de-globalization on the rise, and the recovery of the world economy difficult and tortuous. Under such circumstances, friends from all walks of life in many countries, including Singapore, have become more eager to know what is happening to China's economy.

It is fair to say that China's economy has withstood the downward pressure and rebounded toward a good momentum in a steady way. Last year, China's GDP exceeded 126 trillion RMB yuan , up by 5.2 percent. In the first quarter of this year, China witnessed its growth by 5.3 percent, and the scale of import and export of goods exceeded 10 trillion RMB yuan for the first time, a record high for the same period in history, realizing a good start. Recently, many international organizations have raised their expectations for China's economy performance.

That being said, China's economy does face some problems and challenges in the process of transformation and upgrading, such as weak real estate sector, less-than-expected recovery in consumption and decline in foreign investment. We are already working on solutions and have achieved initial results. Transaction activity in the residential market in several cities has come out of the downward range one after another, and total retail sales of consumer goods in the first quarter grew by 4.7% year-on-year.

II. Why will China's economy continue to do well?

Our confidence stems from three sources:

First, China adheres to the new development philosophy and promotes high-quality economic development. China's economic development today has moved away from the relatively extensive growth model of the past to a more refined stage, where short-term growth is no longer achieved at the expense of the environment and the accumulation of long-term risks. Instead, economic development is being promoted in greener and more sustainable way that can benefit the population in a better and more equitable manner.

President Xi Jinping has put forward the major concept of new quality productive forces, which in essence, is to raise total factor productivity, promoting advanced productivity and realizing high-quality development through innovation and deepening reforms. China has recently launched a new round of large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in programs, including new energy vehicles and green home appliances, which will create an annual market of more than 5 trillion RMB yuan. The incremental size of "green markets" such as green infrastructure and green energy is expected to reach 10 trillion RMB yuan per year. The size of China's digital economy will reach 15.7 trillion USD by 2027. These new dynamics of development will provide effective support for China to achieve this year's growth targets and promote higher-quality and more sustainable development.

Second, the advantages of China's mega-market of 1.4 billion people are growing. Through long-term efforts, we have built a moderately prosperous society in all respects and lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty. Now, a mega-market with a middle-income group of 400 million and a per capita GDP of 12,000 USD has contributed one-third of global growth. Imagine the opportunities for the world as China's middle-income group moves towards 800 million in the next 10 years, with the further release of high-end and diversified consumption!

Third, China's determination to open up to the outside world is unwavering. President Xi Jinping's proposals to build a community with a shared future for mankind and comprehensively promote modernization with Chinese characteristics are all about putting China's development in the context of the world's development and bringing more opportunities to the world's development. Over the past 10 years, China's negative list for foreign investment access has been reduced from 190 items to less than 31, and the total tariff level has been lowered to 7.3 percent, which is comparable to the level of developed WTO members. Last year,we introduced 24 policy measures to stabilize foreign investment, and more than 60 percent have been implemented or have made positive progress. Nearly 54,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were set up in China last year, up by nearly 40 percent year-on-year. In the first quarter of this year, 12,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were set up, up by 20.7 percent year-on-year. The actual use of foreign capital rose by 41.7 percent from a year earlier.

III. Why is "China's export of overcapacity" a false proposition?

Recently, some US and Western politicians and media have continued to speculate on the so-called "China's export of overcapacity". The United States has announced tariffs on 18 billion USD worth of Chinese imports, including the "New Trio (namely, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products)", which is a departure from the commitment the U.S. has made to "not seek to decouple from China" and is a naked protectionism. Accusations of overcapacity in China is completely false. First of all, from a global perspective, there is no excess of new energy vehicles, solar photovoltaic and other green high-quality production capacity, but a serious shortage. China's production of green products not only meets market demand, but also helps countries around the world to realize a green transition, which is a great contribution to coping with climate change.

Second, China's new energy industry relies on the improvement of research and development capabilities, the support of a complete industrial chain, its own huge market, as well as participation in global competition to form an innovative advantage and excellent quality, rather than relying on the so-called subsidies or protection. On the contrary, the United States and some European countries are constantly increasing subsidies to their own enterprises.

Third, such argument is concerned and anxious about China's competitiveness rather than the production capacity, and its true mentality is that if you can't do it yourself, you won’t let others do it. In fact,what is most excessive in today’s world is protectionism and "double standards". Whether from the perspective of international politics or international economic relations, various "double standards" have caused a major impact on the credibility of the Western countries. The real cause for concern is the increasing "credibility deficit" of the United States and certain western countries. Many Global South countries are asking how can they really believe in the western countries who boast about the “rule-based international order”?

IV. Where are the opportunities for China-Singapore cooperation?

Singapore is one of the earliest countries most deeply involved in China's reform and opening up. The first generation of leaders like Mr Lee Kuan Yew was firmly optimistic about China. A few days ago, Mr Lawrence Wong as the fourth generation of leader, took over as Prime Minister. PM Wong once said that "never bet on the decline of China". I firmly believe that China-Singapore cooperation will continue to prosper from this new starting point and advance with the times. In order to grasp new opportunities for China-Singapore cooperation, we need to follow the new characterization of China-Singapore relations and embark on a new journey.

First, All-round. With the transformation and upgrading of the respective economies of China and Singapore, the demand structure of the two countries is constantly changing, and multi-level and diversified demands continue to emerge. Enterprises from both sides need to further expand the scope of cooperation and enlarge the cake of common interests. Singaporean enterprises are welcome to seize opportunities such as China’s modernization and rural revitalization, and explore new areas and potential for cooperation. Enterprises from both countries can also further expand their cooperation in the region and along the Belt and Road through third-party market cooperation.

Second, High-quality. The three major intergovernmental cooperation projects are benchmarks for high-quality cooperation between China and Singapore. Today, experts and scholars from China and Singapore, as well as representatives from various sectors who are personally involved in the intergovernmental cooperation projects in Suzhou and Chongqing will introduce the situation in the Suzhou Industrial Park, the new land-sea trade corridor, and the Hong Kong-Singapore cooperation, share their views and interact with friends present today in the hope that it will bring new inspirations.

Third, Future-oriented. Future-oriented is the distinctive feature of China-Singapore cooperation. At present, both China and Singapore are making great efforts to develop emerging frontier industries such as digital economy, artificial intelligence, high technology, green and low-carbon, etc. Enterprises of the two countries are encouraged to seize the opportunity and show their skills to reap greater success in the process of economic transformation and upgrading of China and Singapore.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, old and new, for their longstanding efforts in promoting China-Singapore cooperation. The Chinese Embassy in Singapore and I myself will continue to do our best to facilitate China-Singapore economic and trade cooperation.

Finally, sincerely welcome friends from all walks of life in Singapore to visit China more often to seek cooperation opportunities and create a bright future together.

Thank you all!