Opening Remarks by SMS Tan Kiat How at 2nd Singapore-China Digital Policy Dialogue

Singapore and China are celebrating 35 years of diplomatic relationship this year. Our bilateral ties are deep and multi-faceted.

Here in Chongqing, we are also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (CCI).

In today's globalised economy, industry and business integration between countries matters. Singapore and China are already highly connected through trade, investment, supply chains and technology. Furthermore, with China's recognition of data as a fifth factor of production, the strategic importance of policies governing data flows, AI application, and digital exchange is magnified. These are not just theoretical discussions but have real economic implications.

Traditional frameworks governing trade and commerce are primarily based on handling physical goods and services. But emerging domains such as data and AI cannot neatly fit into those old categories. We need new rules that support inter-operability and flow of digital services across our economies - rules that did not exist before.

Additionally, AI is transforming entire sectors from healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, professional services, city planning to lifestyle and entertainment. Because of this, regulatory clarity and cross-border cooperation have become more urgent. If we delay, businesses will face fragmentation in regulations, higher compliance costs, and less room to innovate.

And that is why the Singapore-China Digital Policy Dialogue (DPD) is an important platform for both countries to deepen our partnership in the digital domain. The DPD was proposed in Apr 2023 by then-PM Lee to Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The inaugural run of DPD was held in Beijing last year.

At that session, we established the "3-2-1 Framework" ("321框架") as a structure to guide our ongoing collaboration:

1. Three Objectives (三个目标): a) enhance our mutual understanding of each other's digital ecosystems; b) foster policy innovation that supports our industries and companies; and c) address the challenges faced by ground-up projects and initiatives. These objectives are still very much relevant today.

2. Two Focus Areas (两个焦点) - The first focus area is facilitating trusted commercial data flows for companies. In this regard, I am glad to see good progress. I suggest for us to build on this progress to also include data innovation, such as the use of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs). On the second area of AI safety and governance, we had a good discussion. I suggest that, given the context and pace of technological development, we can broaden this conversation to "digital exchange", so that we can discuss a wider range of digital collaboration, including our pilots with different Chinese cities. This would also allow us to explore topics for potential collaboration such as AI safety, AI for public good, and AI applications in industries.

3. And I echo what 刘局长 has said: One Common Approach (一心务实) - In addressing these focus areas and working towards our objectives, we should continue to adopt a pragmatic and agile approach, taking concrete steps to tackle issues. This approach has worked well for us and will enable our collaboration to keep pace with the speed of digital innovation.

Our current multi-stakeholder approach involving cities, academia and private sector is working well.

I am very glad to note that since our inaugural DPD last year, Singapore and China have worked on the following innovative initiatives for our businesses:

1. Singapore led the development of the Joint Guide on the Mapping of the ASEAN MCCs and China's SCCs on Cross-Border Data Flow. The Guide will ease contractual negotiations for businesses, particularly SMEs, by clarifying similarities and differences between ASEAN's MCCs and China's SCCs. This is the first mapping of China's frameworks with other jurisdictions and will lay the foundation to unlock future commercial flows between China and ASEAN.

2. Another initiative is the China-Singapore Joint Data Compliance Guide, jointly developed by the Asian Business Law Institute and the Shenzhen Data Exchange. It is a practical "field manual" to help businesses navigate differing data rules in both markets. It is shaped by real business challenges faced by companies operating across China and Singapore and serves as a "translation tool" between our regulatory systems. The guide simplifies requirements, offers practical step-by-step guidance, and builds business confidence by reducing legal risks and enabling cross-border digital growth.

3. Our flagship e-apostilles pilot demonstrates how cryptographically signed verifiable credentials can make cross-border processes faster, cheaper, and more trusted. With China and Singapore moving rapidly to operationalise e-apostilles using verifiable credential technology, this work will establish both countries as leaders within this space and create a blueprint for scaling to many cross-border public- and private-sector processes outside of the two countries.

4. Our TradeTrust pilots in Beijing and Chongqing showcases how digitalisation can make trade more efficient and transparent. By building a steady pipeline of trials, China and Singapore are demonstrating how interoperable systems can handle complex supply chains and diverse documentation needs - highlighted by the first end-to-end digitalised trade link between China, Singapore and the Middle East in March 2025.

I am very glad that we are making progress on the many projects that we have initiated at our first meeting. Beyond projects that benefit both countries, we are also benefiting the wider region in Southeast Asia, and other areas of the world like the Middle East and Africa. What we are doing is path-finding in many areas in this new digital economy. These examples are testament to the DPD's pragmatic approach in finding innovative and implementable solutions to benefit our industries and businesses.

This year's DPD aims to build on this momentum and find more innovative solutions for our businesses.

My hope for our DPD is that we can draw from the Confucian wisdom and take a "和而不同" approach - harmonious despite our differences. The DPD should be a platform for interaction where diverse parties coexist and collaborate productively precisely because of their differences, not in spite of them. While Singapore and China have different tech ecosystems and operating contexts, the DPD seeks to bring our stakeholders together and invite diverse perspectives in pursuit of practical digital solutions for our businesses and our people. We may have different operating contexts, different technological ecosystems, but we are joined together by a shared objective to increase cross border digital flows to benefit our businesses, our workers and our people.

I look forward to the sharing today. Again, I'd like to thank the NDA for supporting this meeting, the working group leads and representatives from the five cities that are presenting today for all their hard work, and the Chongqing municipal government for hosting this meeting. And with that, may our bilateral digital cooperation continue to build on the strong momentum, and be taken to greater heights with the support of 刘局长 and his team. Thank you very much.