Three thriving cities along the Yangtze, a wealth of opportunities
With the successful conclusion of the first segment, 24 participants from the Future China Advanced Leaders Programme (FC-ALP) embarked on the second leg of the FC-ALP under the leadership of Senior Minister of State (Trade & Industry and National Development) Mr Lee Yi Shyan to three cities situated along the Yangtze River – Shanghai, Chongqing and Chengdu. Co-leading the delegation were Business China Board Directors, Minister of State Sam Tan and Parliamentary Secretary Ms Low Yen Ling.
At their first stop – Shanghai, participants attended an intensive course on “Leadership in China”, taught by Prof Meng Xianzhong, Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Executive Vice President of China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong (CELAP), Prof Feng Jun also gave participants a comprehensive introduction to China’s political structure, debunking myths and misunderstandings about the political framework that is governing the most populous country in the world. While in Shanghai, the delegation called on Pudong Party Secretary Shen Xiaoming and Shanghai Vice Mayor Ai Baojun, who is also the Director of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Administrative Committee. Participants were given a presentation of the FTZ by Mr Yu Yong, General Manager of the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Development Co., Ltd., with opportunities for them to obtain first-hand information on investment opportunities, as well as direct clarifications on key issues pertaining to operations in the Shanghai FTZ.
Next, the delegation travelled upstream to Chongqing, China’s gateway city to its western region. As eastern coastal cities become more matured and expensive to operate, investors are heading inland towards China’s western regions in search of emerging opportunities and friendlier operating environment. Chongqing, with the establishment of the Liangjiang New Area, the 3rd national level development area after Shanghai’s Pudong and Tianjin’s Binhai New Areas, seemed geared up to drive economic development in China’s Wild West.
The FC-ALP delegation had the opportunity to tour the Liangjiang New Area and visited 2 companies to further understand operational incentives and challenges. While in Chongqing, FC-ALP together with co-organiser, Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School (NTU-NBS) and local Chongqing partner, Chongqing’s Commission of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (COFTEC) put together an Investment Forum for the local Chongqing business community. Guest-of-Honour of the Forum was Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan and Chongqing CPC Standing Committee member, Director of the Liangjiang New Area Administrative Committee, Party Secretary Ling Yueming.
The Forum was well attended by more than 80 business leaders from state-owned enterprises, privately-owned enterprises as well as foreign corporations based in Chongqing. Keynote speaker Ms Christine Lie, Chief Representative of Singapore Exchange provided comprehensive information on listing opportunities and procedures in Singapore, while guest speaker Ms Yang Xiaoyu, Deputy General Manager of Chongqing Ying Li International Real Estate Limited shared their listing experience in Singapore as well as insights of operating in Chongqing. Thereafter, a panel discussion moderated by NTU-NBS Associate Dean Prof Tan Kok Hui, with panelists Ms Christine Lie, Mr Li Qian (Deputy Director of Chongqing COFTEC), and Mr He Xiangyang (Director of Chongqing Xiangshang Group), sparked great interests amongst the Chongqing business leaders on listing and internationalisation opportunities in Singapore, as well as avenues for bilateral collaborations between Chongqing and Singapore entities. FC-ALP participants particularly enjoyed the networking lunch thereafter as yet another important casual platform to get to know their Chongqing counterparts better.
The delegation next travelled to Chengdu via the newly completed High Speed Rail (HSR), and witnessed the way completion of key infrastructures like the HSR and highways had driven urbanisation and development of this mountainous back-water. In Chengdu, the delegation visited the Singapore-Sichuan Hi-Tech Innovation Park, which was jointly developed by Singbridge, Sembcorp and the Chinese joint venture partner Chengdu Hi-Tech Investment Group.
Business aside, participants were awed by the cultural and historical spectacles of Szechuan, which include: the Szechuan Opera performance; as well as visits to Tang Dynasty poet – Dufu’s Memorial, Dujiangyan Dam built during the Warring States Period almost two thousand years ago and still in use today, Jinsha Site Museum which housed artifacts from the Bronze Age, and Jinli Ancient Street. These visits provided the cultural and historical basis for participants to further decode factors that shaped current Chinese business mindset and paradigms.
The Future China Advanced Leaders Programme (FC-ALP) is honoured to have Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan leading the delegation once again this year. Mr Lee, in noting the growth of economic linkages between Singapore and the various Chinese western cities in recent years, remarked that, “The FC-ALP provided opportunities for participants to gain deeper understanding of the fast-growing Chinese western cities like Chongqing and Chengdu. Most of the participants are already familiar with major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. With industrialisation, urbanisation and rising consumerism, the western China region has gradually evolved. Our FC-ALP participants will learn first hand how such changes are presenting a different set of operating conditions and business opportunities. Inland western Chinese culture also manifests itself in the way people live and conduct business. I believe the FC-ALP participants are now more informed of the differences between the western and coastal cities now that they have visited these cities.”
The last segment of the FC-ALP will be held in Singapore from 26 to 30 May 2014. The Commencement Ceremony will be graced by Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Business China Board Advisor.
First launched in 2012, the FC-ALP is the only senior executive business management programme in Asia to comprehensively address the complex dynamics between social, political, economic and cultural factors that are fuelling China’s rapid rise. Designed to provide an immersive and holistic learning experience, the Programme will give participants a comprehensive and first-hand understanding of doing business in China.