Singapore can serve as a gateway to internationalization for Chinese companies, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said in Singapore Tuesday.

Speaking at a seminar named "Singapore: a Bridge for Chinese Businesses", Wong said Chinese companies can capitalize on the city state's pro-business environment and excellent business infrastructure and tap into its growing network of free trade agreements.

By the end of 2005, a total of 90 Chinese enterprises were listed in the Singapore Exchange with market share value of about 16 billion Singapore dollars (about 10 billion U.S. dollars) and total capital-raised of some 2.64 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.67 billion U.S. dollars), according to the figures released by the Chinese Embassy in Singapore earlier this year.

China was Singapore's fourth largest trading partner and Singapore ranked China's seventh largest trading partner in 2005 with bilateral trade volume hitting a record high of 33.15 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of nearly 26 percent over 2004.

"This impressive growth is helped by the excellent government- to-government ties between our two countries," Wong said, adding that frequent high-level exchanges highlight the commitment of the two governments to deepen and widen bilateral relations.

Organized by the Singapore Academy of Law, the seminar gathered experts from the legal, investment and business fields to share their experiences in the management of cross-border commercial transactions and how to benefit from using a pragmatic law to avoid pitfalls.

A website introducing Singapore laws in the Chinese language will be launched by the Singapore Academy of Law shortly, according to Wong.

Source: Xinhua