新加坡：与世界最大的贸易国中国合作将为新加坡企业的发展助力

　　新加坡就2008年中国与新加坡签署的FTA升级工作已经展开，新加坡总理李显龙于2015年7月在'慧眼中国环球论坛'中表示希望今年就中国和新加坡FTA升级展开讨论。

　　参见todayonline 2015年7月22日的报道：

下附原文：

S'pore-China cooperation picks up pace, starting with FTA

PUBLISHED:  JULY 22, 2015

SINGAPORE - Companies here doing business with the world's biggest trading nation could soon get a boost to put the wind in their sails.

Work has started on upgrading the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, which was signed in 2008, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said today (July 21) he hoped discussions will also begin this year.

"The FTA has been in place for quite a few years, and the world has changed. If there's a new FTA, it should be more complete, more inclusive than the existing one," he said at the FutureChina Global Forum 2015 held here.

"We hope we can upgrade the FTA with China. We have agreed to start a joint scoping study, - in Mandarin, it's what we call a negotiation research work group."

This comes at a time when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have also set a goal to conclude negotiations on upgrading the China-ASEAN FTA, by year end. And cooperation between China and Singapore is picking in other ways too.

Noting that Singapore is embarking on a third government-to-government (G-to-G) project in Western China, with three cities shortlisted - Chongqing, Chengdu and Xi'an - Mr Lee hopes the decision on the final location will be reached this year.

With thousands of Singapore companies in China, and more than 6,000 Chinese companies here, the business community is especially eyeing the potential changes to the FTA.

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice-president Lau Tai San said, "With the widespread usage of e-commerce in the China market, we hope more measures can be implemented to encourage more cross-border business via the Internet with lower tariffs and barriers.
"This would be beneficial for small and medium enterprises venturing into China via e-commerce."

Katong Flower Shop managing director Royston Low, who owns two nurseries in China, called for fewer restrictions on the type of goods that can be exported to China.

"Hopefully, they can make rules more flexible ... We're buying a lot from China, but for certain items like plants, it isn't easy to get (export) permits," he said. "I don't know how some industry players from other countries manage to export to China currently."

The current FTA covers trade in goods, services, technical barriers to trade, customs procedures, economic cooperation and dispute settlement, among others.

For instance, it allows Singapore exporters greater access to free or reduced tariffs for goods entering China than under the China-ASEAN agreement.

During today's dialogue, attended primarily by businessmen, officials and academics from round the world and where Mr Lee spoke mostly in Mandarin, he also answered a question on the opportunities the internationalisation of renminbi would yield.

He said it would be good for Singapore as a financial centre, and also make trade easier. But he noted that caution was required, as economic stability was paramount.

Mr Lee was also asked about whether he viewed Hong Kong and Singapore as competitors in attracting investment dollars from China.

He replied: "From Singapore's perspective, we don't feel that we compete with Hong Kong. Hong Kong lies at the doorstep of China, and its position is entirely different from Singapore.

"We have a different outlook from Hong Kong. We don't just look at China, we focus on Southeast Asia, India and others, such as Australia."

The two-day forum organised by Business China, with the theme "Opportunities Amidst China's Rebalancing", ended today.