Singapore and China Expand Financial Cooperation through New Initiatives

Singapore, 29 December 2021…The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today announced new initiatives to expand and strengthen financial cooperation between Singapore and China, particularly in capital markets and green finance. These initiatives were discussed at the 17th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) between Singapore and China. The JCBC was co-chaired by Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, Mr Heng Swee Keat, and People's Republic of China Executive Vice Premier of the State Council, Mr Han Zheng.

2 The new initiatives include:

• ETF Connect - Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish an Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) Product Link to enable eligible fund managers to offer ETF products to investors in each other's markets.
  
  
• Bond platform linkage - SGX and China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) are in discussions to establish connectivity between their bond trading platforms. This will enable greater investor access to China's bond market.
  
  
• Commodity derivatives collaboration - Asia Pacific Futures (APF) is the first Singapore firm to become an Overseas Special Brokerage Participant (OSBP) of the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE). This will allow Singapore-based investors to directly trade internationalised onshore commodity products through APF, thereby facilitating international participation and price discovery in China's commodity derivatives markets.
  
  
• Green Finance - MAS and the People's Bank of China (PBC) will explore deeper public-private sector collaboration in green finance, particularly in key areas, such as taxonomies and green FinTech. Clearer definitions for classifying economic activities will help catalyse greater financing flows to green and transition projects in Asia.

3 Mr Leong Sing Chiong, MAS Deputy Managing Director (Markets and Development), said, "Strong financial cooperation between China and Singapore has supported greater trade and financial flows between China and ASEAN. The new capital market and green finance initiatives announced today will create significant opportunities for us to forge new channels of financial connectivity and integration to support sustainable and inclusive growth for both China and Singapore."

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