Singapore firms should explore beyond China's established cities: trade minister

Chan hopes to deepen SingCham and ESG's network to create opportunities in different parts of China.

Singapore businesses need to go beyond Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as there are still many second-tier and third-tier Chinese cities which have potential for growth, trade minister Chan Chung Sing said.

In his speech at the Singapore-China Trade & Investment Forum held at Shanghai, the minister thinks that Singapore businesses in the other Chinese cities apart from the established areas still ‘lack tremendous support.’

“Even if some of us might think that the opportunities in the coastal cities are quite saturated, there are still many opportunities in many other parts of China,” Chan said. “And this is where we hope to strengthen the network of Singapore Chamber of Commerce & Industry In China (SingCham) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) in different parts of China to create more opportunities for our businesses.”

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The minister revealed that he has encouraged the SingCham Shanghai chapter to help China businesses reach back into Singapore and beyond apart from their role of helping Singapore firms integrate and assimilate in China.

“I am very confident that your networking here today, will bring opportunities in China beyond Shanghai,” he said.