A night of celebrating Singapore-China relations
On 27 November 2013, Business China celebrated its sixth anniversary and the fourth edition of its annual Business China Awards at Resorts World Sentosa. More than 600 guests, including esteemed business and political leaders, attended the celebration, with Guest-of-Honour Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presenting the awards.
Organised by Business China and jointly presented by OCBC Bank, the Business China Awards serves to recognise businessmen, professionals and organisations for contributing to Singapore-China relations. In honouring these exemplary role models, the Awards aims to promote bilingualism and biculturalism in Singapore.
Following a rigorous judging process, Mr Liang Baohua, Lianhe Zaobao and Mr Charles Wong were presented with the Business China Excellence Award, Business China Enterprise Award and Business China Young Achiever Award respectively.
Business China also announced the appointment of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as the new Patron of Business China, succeeding Singapore’s Founding Prime Minister and Business China Founding Patron Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
The appointment of Mr Lee Hsien Loong as Patron marks the organisation’s next phase of development. Jointly launched by Mr Lee Kuan Yew and former Chinese Premier Mr Wen Jiabao in November 2007, Business China strives to raise the bilingual and bicultural quotient of Singaporeans and deepen Singaporeans’ understanding of contemporary China. Over the past 6 years, Business China has organised183 multi-faceted events, benefitting a total of 46,000 participants since its inception. In 2013 alone, 40 events were organised, which is equivalent to having one event every nine days.
In his address, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed that he is optimistic about China’s potential and emphasised the need for Singapore companies to proactively adapt to China’s changing needs and circumstances in order to take advantage of economic opportunities there, even as the government continues to enhance its partnership with China. He also urged Singapore companies to develop their staff to understand the language, customs, traditions and business practices of China.
Mr Lee also highlighted the role of Business China as an important partner for Singapore companies hoping to enter China. “Business China continues to play a very important role to them, by promoting Chinese language and forging partnerships to benefit our enterprises.
Mr Lee congratulated the three Business China Awards recipients who are outstanding role models in the promotion of Singapore-China relations and an inspiration to Business China’s cause of bilingualism and biculturalism in Singapore.
The 2013 recipient of the Excellence Award, Former Party Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee, Mr Liang Baohua, is best known for his role as China’s key representative in spearheading the development of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (CSSIP). The project, while often cited as a model industrial park, is most symbolic in pioneering and defining the close relations between Singapore and China. Mr Liang was also the inaugural co-Chairman of the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council from 2007 to 2010, thereby contributing to collaborative efforts between Jiangsu province and Singapore. He is the first Chinese citizen to receive a Business China Award in the individual category.
Lianhe Zaobao, which received the Enterprise Award, is regarded as one of the most reputable and objective media sources in China, trusted by top policymakers and business executives. In particular, its digital form, zaobao.com, has grown to become one of the top Chinese news websites in the world, with a monthly visitorship of more than 10 million and daily page views exceeding four million.
Charles Wong, recipient of the Young Achiever Award, is CEO and one of the founders of Charles & Keith. With 63 outlets across various cities in China and a vision to serve the fashion needs of a fast-urbanising Chinese population, Mr Wong is committed to strong brand building and long-term presence in the China market. His conviction towards talent development in China and his charitable contributions to needy communities in China are laudable efforts in enhancing Singapore-China relations.
In his welcome address, Mr Chua Thian Poh, Chairman of Business Chin thanked Founding Patron Mr Lee Kuan Yew for his significant contribution towards the organisation. “Our Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has always been committed to the promotion of bilingualism and biculturalism in Singapore, as exemplified in his strong support towards Business China when he founded the organization as our Patron. Mr Lee’s dedication and contributions to Business China over the past 6 years has allowed many Singaporeans to benefit greatly from our programmes and initiatives. Moving forward, Mr Lee will continue to lend his support to Business China as our Founding Patron. On behalf of Business China’s Board of Advisors, Directors and secretariat, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Mr Lee.”
OCBC Bank is the Joint Presenter for the Business China Awards. In his welcome remarks, Mr Samuel Tsien, CEO of OCBC Bank, stated that: “OCBC Bank has been supporting the Business China Awards for the fourth year running, and we continue to witness inspiring stories of organizations and individuals embracing cross-border integration of language, business and culture. The distance between our two countries does not limit us but the similarity of culture and shared objectives form the foundation for future success.”
Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times were the supporting media for Business China Awards.