Singapore delegation to visit Zhejiang province

Led by Grace Fu, the minister in prime minister's office, second minister for the environment and water Resources and second minister for foreign affairs, a 58- member delegation of Singapore is scheduled to visit China's Zhejiang province from Monday to Thursday, Singapore's trade promotion agency, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore said on Monday.

The business mission will be in conjunction with the ninth Singapore-Zhejiang Economic and Trade Council meeting, which will be held in Hangzhou on Tuesday. The Singapore's business delegation comprises companies from sectors including professional, lifestyle and infrastructure services.

This year marks the 10th year since the Council was established. "The Council will review key initiatives in the last 10 years and future collaboration areas for the coming year. Discussions will revolve around new ways to deepen longstanding relations in line with the province's growth direction," the IE Singapore said in a statement.

During their stay in Zhejiang Province, the delegation will visit Zhejiang University, Alibaba and China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. While during their stay in Shaoxing city, they are scheduled to visit China's Textile City, Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation's (OCBC) first branch in Zhejiang and first foreign bank in Shaoxing, and the China Rice Wine Museum.

According to the IE Singapore, Singapore's actual investments in Zhejiang increased 36.2 percent on year to reach 698.7 million Singapore dollars (560 million U.S. dollars) last year. As of the end of last year, cumulative actual investments in Zhejiang were 4. 1 billion Singapore dollars with 1,008 projects.

The bilateral trade between the two sides increased 10.5 percent to hit 6.1 billion Singapore dollars last year.