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CHONGQING, China: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong began his official China visit on Tuesday, starting with Chongqing city, a southwest municipality where he hopes more Singapore companies will explore.
Taking a leaf off Singapore's experience, Chongqing has launched its pilot rental housing project.
Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan gave Mr Lee an overview of the city's development, saying the plan was modelled after Singapore's public housing development experience.
The plan will eventually provide affordable housing for 20 per cent of Chongqing's population, including fresh graduates and migrant workers.
Mayor Huang said the municipality in southwest China has seen its economy growing an average of 15 per cent over the last three years.
At a meeting with Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, Mr Lee said he hoped the city will support Singapore companies setting up businesses there.
He added: "Quite a lot of companies have come to China and doing well. Several have come to Chongqing developing their business and I think they are taking full advantage of the incentives and conditions which Chongqing is providing them."
Prime Minister Lee said he hopes to bring relations between Singapore and Chongqing closer with his visit. To that, Mr Bo said the city is also keen to work with Singapore on larger scale projects to accelerate the development of Chongqing, as well as western China.
This is Mr Lee's first visit to Chongqing as prime minister.
While in Chongqing, Prime Minister Lee and Mayor Huang Qifan, attended the opening ceremony of Neptune Orient Lines' APL Global Service Centre.
The center is NOL’s largest office outside of its Singapore headquarters, handling trade documentation and NOL’s two principal businesses, container shipping line APL and supply chain services provider APL Logistics.
NOL Group CEO Ron Widdows said NOL will name one of its new fleet vessels, the APL Chongqing to honour the relationship between the city and his company.
NOL began operating at its Chongqing facility in February, taking up a pair of eight-storey office towers at the New North Zone High-Tech Industrial Park near the city’s main airport.
- CNA/al/sf
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