Good morning everyone! I am so happy to see so many of you here today on a Saturday morning! It shows that there continues to be a lot of interest in understanding China amongst the youth. But, the key question – is why does it matter?
Despite some of the gloom and doom in the multipolar world today, China has continued to post a respectable growth of 5.2% in 2023. In 2024, it is expected to grow around 5% despite its many domestic economic issues. Given China’s size, i.e. at around 5% growth per year, it is growing almost a Switzerland size economy every year, or almost 1.8 times of the Singapore economy.
China has continued to expand its outwards investments, especially in Southeast Asia, where it has been one of the largest investors in recent years. China has retained its position as ASEAN’s largest trading partner since 2009, while ASEAN has been China’s largest trading partner since 2020.
Closer to daily life, China continues to develop interesting products and services for not just China, but also for the world. Have you observed the many EVs from China on Singapore’s roads recently?
Therefore, China is not just a major player in the world economy today, but the economies of China and Southeast Asia are also highly complementary. As such, to understand China better, and to be able to engage more with China, is to allow us to develop a stronger perspective of the world and to avail ourselves to more opportunities down the road.
The topic of today’s forum – the Singapore-China Youth Interns Exchange Scheme (YES) plays a pivotal role in cultivating cross-cultural ties and understanding between Singapore and China amongst the younger generation, as nothing else quite compares better than a full-on, months long, immersion in working experience in China.
Today, we have a diverse audience. To those who have completed your YES internship, I hope your time in China was both enriching and transformative, setting you up to become key participants in the business landscape between the two nations. I encourage you to join and lead youth groups, especially those with cross cultural exchanges, to continue immersing yourself in a bicultural and bilingual environment.
For those starting your internships in September, I hope you go out there to try out new things and be open-minded and diligent in building cross-cultural awareness. Remember to embrace the experience with enthusiasm! And for those considering YES, we hope today’s session inspires you to say a resounding YES to a YES internship.
对今天在场的YES中方实习生，热烈欢迎大家来到新加坡实习。希望大家充分利用这次机会，在这里结交新朋友，建立宝贵的人脉，同时体验新加坡的独特风情，包括其多元文化、美食天堂、现代化城市景观和绿意盎然的花园城市。你们就是中新之间的桥梁和纽带，承载着促进两国文化交流、加强经济合作和深化相互理解的重要使命。希望你们能够充分利用这段实习经历，深入了解和体验新加坡的独特魅力，为中新的友好关系贡献自己的力量。祝大家一切顺利！
It truly takes a village to make YES a success. Hosting companies plays a crucial role by offering internship opportunities and their commitment to talent development for youths. Since the launch of the YES in July 2023, 294 internship opportunities in China and 231 in Singapore have been published on the YES website by 180 companies.
Today we extend our gratitude to Wuxi Biologics, Ant International, and Tembusu Partners for their support and participation today.
I hope that everyone will find today’s session useful. More importantly, make more new friends and enjoy yourself!
Thank you!
Youth Interns Exchange Scheme (YES) Forum
17 August 2024