Chee Hong Tat on 5-day working visit to China

National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat is on a five-day working visit to China from April 13 (Monday) to April 17.

In a statement on Tuesday, a Ministry of National Development (MND) spokesperson said Chee will attend meetings in Beijing and Tianjin.

Taking to his Facebook page on Tuesday evening, the minister said he met with his counterpart, China's Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong.

The two leaders last met in September 2025 during a leadership dialogue between their ministries.

"We had a productive discussion on deepening the collaboration between Singapore and China in the built environment sector, including the use of innovative technologies and advanced materials for construction, facility management, and improving the comfort and quality of our living environment," Chee wrote.

While in Beijing, Chee, who is also deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), met with Bank of China chairman Ge Haijiao, who is a member of the MAS international advisory panel.

Chee said they discussed the "strong and longstanding" cooperation between MAS and the bank, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary in Singapore.

They also discussed ways the Bank of China (BOC) could further expand its business in Singapore, including infrastructure financing and how local banks can work with BOC to support the financing needs of growth companies in Singapore and China, and the international use of renminbi-related financial services.

During the 21st Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) held in December 2025, it was announced that DBS, alongside the BOC, will commence over-the-counter bond market arrangements to provide institutional investors with access to selected fixed income products.

Under a new pilot named "e-CNY", Singapore travellers are also able to open and top-up e-CNY wallets at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Singapore branch and BOC's Singapore branch for merchant payments in China. 

The pilot was offered to the banks' customers in phases starting from end-2025. 

@asiaone 27 agreements were inked by Singapore and China at the 21st Joint Council on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) on Monday (Dec 15). Among them were several financial and capital markets initiatives, such as DBS becoming the second Renminbi (RMB) clearing bank in Singapore, and the introduction of e-CNY for Singapore travellers visiting China - to make payments easier. #sgnews #Singapore #China #Cooperation #Finance #Bank #DigitalPayments ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

Chee is also expected to meet with local and Singapore companies in Tianjin.

He is accompanied by officials from MND, MAS, Enterprise Singapore and the Economic Development Board. 

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