Singapore can offer the right platform to help Chinese companies internationalize, a Singapore minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an annual Global Entrepolis here, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said that by using Singapore as a springboard to the region and beyond, Chinese companies can reap many tangible benefits.

"From here, many companies have found access to resources and consumer markets. They appreciate the pro-business climate that enables them to set up centers for high-tech innovation, intellectual property management and research and development," Lim said.

The number of Chinese enterprises incorporated here has jumped from about 100 a year from 1993 to 2002, to 200 in 2003, he said, adding that Singapore has a total of 1,160 Chinese wholly-owned and joint venture companies incorporated here by the end of last year, and the number of Chinese technology-related companies is 74.

Most of the Chinese companies are in the trading, consultancy and construction-related sectors.

China has set up an internationalization center here for Chinese high-tech enterprises to grow their businesses on the world stage, and Singapore hopes to work with more of Chinese enterprises to act as a launch pad for them into the global economy, he said.

Currently, there are some 7,000 multinational companies in Singapore, and about 4,000 of them already use the island state as a regional base for their headquarters operations.

Source: Xinhua