Our Guest of Honour, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean
Chairman of Business China, Mr Lee Yi Shyan
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Chen Xiaodong
Ministers, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen
Good evening. Allow me, first of all, to thank DPM Teo for gracing our event. Your presence signifies the importance of both Business China and the annual Business China Awards.
I would also like to extend my congratulations to Mr Lee Yi Shyan for your appointment as the Chairman of Business China. We have no doubt that your Trade & Industry experience and your two decades of engaging businesses and leaders in China will lead Business China to an even higher level of accomplishment.
Business China has been the inclusive bi-lingual and bi-cultural channel that is instrumental in strengthening the business, social and cultural links between Singapore and China. And, tonight, we gather here to recognise the exemplary role models amongst you who have devoted passionately to this critical mission and advanced our two nations’ bilateral ties holistically.
As the co-presenter of the Business China Awards, OCBC Bank is indeed most privileged to be able to play a role in Business China’s mission. With its first Award granted in 2010, this partnership has entered its 7th year.
I can still recall seven years ago when the idea was first conceived, the panel committee worked feverishly to design the programme such that the Awards can achieve the purpose of reinforcing and nurturing the development of our multi-level linkages between the two countries, and further promoting Singapore’s connectivity with China through the recognition of individuals, enterprises and young achievers who have contributed to this end.
As we look to the future, we have to understand the past. For OCBC Bank, our heritage in China started with our first branch in Xiamen in 1925, and since then, we have been operating without interruption in China for more than 90 years. We crossed many milestones in China and in the Greater China region.
They included the incorporation of our local business in China in 2007, the US$5 billion acquisition of Wing Hang Bank in Hong Kong and its subsidiaries in China and Macao in 2014; and a few months ago, the successful merger of OCBC and Wing Hang’s China operations to become OCBC Wing Hang Bank (China) with a total shareholders’ equity of RmB 7.2 billion.
We now have direct presence in 14 cities in China with 31 branches and sub-branches. We also have another 81 branches and offices in Hong Kong and Macao, which, together with our Southern China network, forms our presence in the growing Pearl River Delta region whose GDP exceeded US$1 trillion in 2015, surpassing that of Indonesia, and is projected to top US$2 trillion by 2030, the equivalent of India’s GDP in 2015.
These are indeed exciting times. Before I continue to excite you, allow me to share my remaining remarks with you in Mandarin to be consistent with the mission of Business China of nurturing multi-lingualism. My remarks in Mandarin may excite you even more, not necessarily from the content perspective but perhaps from the language perspective.
過去一年全球市場持續出現不明朗因素，但是毫無疑問，中國在世界舞台上依然是最穩定和經濟最為活躍的國家。隨著中國和東南亞地區商貿流動和投資的持續增加，新加坡作為東南亞區域經濟的連接國地位將更為最要。
去年是新中兩國建交25週年，其實兩國間交流互動的深度、已遠遠超越了這四分之一個世紀的積累。新加坡和中國之間的關係淵源深厚，很多華裔新加坡人尋根溯源都是來自於中國。
眾所周知，多年來新中政府之間分别在蘇州,天津和重慶建立了廣泛和深入的合作項目, 它大大加强了两國間的聯動和互通。
新加坡作為亞洲基礎設施投資銀行的首批意向創始成員國、積極支持中國政府“一帶一路”國際經濟合作戰略。新中兩國友情深厚，並將隨著歲月的積累、更加醇厚和堅定。
今天、讓我首先祝賀在座的各位獲獎者，正是你們的熱情和付出、獲得通商中國評審團和社會各界的認同。另一方面、你們的努力,也使得兩國政府的合作、在經濟、商業、文化、教育和社會等各個方面遍地開花並,成績有目共睹。
華僑銀行作為第一家在中國投資的新加坡銀行, 也作為通商中國獎的合辦單位、為你們全心的投入和驕人的成績、感到非常的鼓舞。相信你們的努力將持續照耀著通往未來的道路、使得它更順暢, 更精彩！
再次感謝大家的到來。希望各位通商中國和華僑銀行的老朋友、新知己, 繼續給與我們更多的支持,把新中兩國, 在政府和民間長遠歷史關係的基礎下, 互諒互信, 把兩國的關係推進到更深層次的了解、關懷和合作。
祝愿大家有一個充實的夜晚！