WT/REG262/M/1  
 
3 December 2014  
(14-7046)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Seventy-fifth Session  Original: English  
 
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CHINA AND SINGAPORE  
GOODS AND SERVICES 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 10 NOVEMBER 2014 
Chairman: Ambassador Francisco Pirez Gordillo (Uruguay) 
1.1.  The 75th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/4359 dated 2 October 2014. 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item B.II of the session, the CRTA considered the Free Trade Agreement 
between China and Singapore, (hereinafter "the Agreement"). 
1.3.  The Chairman said that the Agreement ha d entered into force on 1 January 2009. It had 
been notified to the WTO by the Parties on 2 March 2009 under Article XXIV:7(a) of the 
GATT 1994 and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT 1994 as an 
Agreement establishing a free trade area (document WT/REG262/N/1) and under GATS 
Article V:7(a) as an Agreement providing for the liberalization of trade in services within the 
meaning of Article V of the GATS (document S/C/ N/483). The text of the Agreement was available, 
together with its Annexes, on the Parties' official websites. The Factual Presentation on the goods 
and services aspects (document WT/REG262/1 dated 7 July 2014) and written questions and replies (document WT/REG262/2 dated 24 October 2014) had been issued. He proposed to organize the consideration of the Agreement by first asking the Parties and then other Members to 
give any general comments and then turn to the specifics of the Agreement, using the Factual 
Presentation, document WT/REG262/1, to guide the discussion. Then they would turn to the 
Questions and Replies document. 
1.4.  The representative of China apprecia ted the opportunity to brief Members on the 
China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA). He thanked the Secretariat for preparing the 
detailed Factual Presentation and Thailand and Chinese Taipei for their interest and written 
questions. He also thanked the Singaporean delegation for its consistent close cooperation. 
1.5.  With a view to enhancing the bilateral tr ade and investment ties, China and Singapore had 
launched the negotiations on the CSFTA in August 2006. After 2 years' negotiations, the two sides had concluded the process and had signed th e Agreement in October 2008. Building on the 
existing China-ASEAN FTA, the Agreement further accelerated the tariff elimination in trade in 
goods, improved market access in trade in services, and involved a more comprehensive coverage including Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures, TB T/SPS, and Movement of Natural Persons, etc. 
1.6.  A Joint Committee co-chaired by the Ministry  of Commerce of China and the Ministry of Trade 
and Industry of Singapore had been establishe d by the Agreement in order to supervise the 
implementation and review of the Agreement. The reviewing meeting of the Joint Committee was 
convened once a year alternately in China and Singapore, and its 5th meeting would be held in 
Singapore in the near future. In practice, both sides had carried out fruitful and constructive discussions on trade in goods and services, investment, TBT/SPS as well as information sharing on the regional architecture and economic cooperation, such as the ongoing negotiations for the 
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and APEC. 
1.7.  Since the entry into force of the Agreem ent on 1 January 2009, both sides had received 
positive feedback from the business communi ty and had been encouraged by the healthy WT/REG262/M/1 
 
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  utilization rate of the Agreement. Both sides had agreed to push forward its current 
implementation process while adopting an open  and forward-looking approach to improve its 
quality. Progress had been made in many areas such as the finalization of the annexes on product specific rules, amendment of the rules of origin, incorporation of new commitments on trade in 
services, and enhancement of financial services c ooperation. All efforts were aimed at creating a 
more liberal and user-friendly environment and reducing transaction costs for the business community. 
1.8.  China and Singapore shared a long-standing and close economic relationship. The 
implementation of the Agreement further contribute d to deepening the economic interests of both 
sides in a mutually beneficial manner. According to China’s statistics, the two way trade had reached US$76 billion in 2013 with a 9.6% increase year-on-year. China had become the largest 
trading partner of Singapore for the first time, wh ile Singapore had retained its rank as China's 2
nd 
largest trading partner among the ASEAN member countries. In terms of trade in services, there was also a great potential for further cooperation. In 2013, bilateral trade in services had reached 
US$19.3 billion with approximately balanced export s and imports. Singapore had become China's 
4
th export destination and 7th import source in trade in services. Direct investment flows from 
Singapore to China had reached US$7.2 billion in 2013 increasing by 14.7%, while the direct 
investment flows from China to Singapore stood at US$2.4 billion with a remarkable growth of 
78.2% year-on-year. Singapore had been China's largest foreign investor and 5th foreign 
investment destination. With the benefits provided by the Agreement and the deepening economic transformation and up-gradation of both countries, they had every reason to believe that they 
could carry on this positive momentum. 
1.9.  China was satisfied with the overall impl ementation of the Agreement. Currently, both 
countries were working on its review and improvement on the basis of mutual benefits and 
balanced interests. They reiterated their belief that the Agreement could serve to complement the 
multilateral trading system. To conclude, his delegation expressed its readiness to answer, together with Singapore, any questions Members might have.  
1.10.  The representative of Singapore appreciate d the opportunity to present the China-Singapore 
Free Trade Agreement to Members. She thanked the Secretariat for the Factual Presentation 
report, WTO Members for their interest in the Agreement and the Chinese delegation, especially those who had travelled from Beijing, for their close cooperation.  
1.11.  Singapore and China enjoyed long-standing economic ties underpinned by strong trade and 
investment linkages. The Agreement was a key pillar of both countries' bilateral relations. They were confident that economic relations between them would continue to grow from strength to 
strength with the benefits provided by the Agr eement. The negotiations had been concluded on 
3 September 2008 in Beijing and the Agreement had been signed on 23 October 2008 at a 
ceremony in Beijing, witnessed by both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and China's then Prime 
Minister Wen Jiabao.  
1.12.  The Agreement was comprehensive, covering many areas including goods, services, rules of 
origin, trade remedies, sanitary measures, customs procedures and economic cooperation. With a built-in review process to continually improve its quality it had served to benefit companies from 
both countries with greater market access and reduced business costs. It had provided scope for 
deepened financial cooperation between both countries. In July 2012, Singapore and China had enhanced banking services cooperation under the Agreement with the Financial Services Package. 
Since the launch of RMB clearing services in Singapore on 27 May 2013, Singapore had become 
one of the largest offshore RMB centres in terms of RMB payments value. The arrangement had supported China's currency internationalisation efforts and had helped facilitate growing trade and 
investment flows between China and the Southeast Asian region. The Reviews had also yielded 
mutually beneficial outcomes in areas such as Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade. 
1.13.  Singapore and China were committed to ensuring that their FTA remained relevant to 
business needs and reflected their diversifying areas of cooperation. In 2013, China had been 
Singapore’s largest trading partner. Since the first half of 2014, Singapore had become China's 3
rd 
largest foreign trading partner for trade in services. Bilateral trade in services had increased by 
almost 60% year-on-year in the first half of 2014 signifying the huge potential for growth. Thus, 
both sides were working together to improve the Services Chapter. Harnessing complementarities WT/REG262/M/1 
 
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  in services was a “win-win” for both countries, as they underwent economic restructuring and 
developed their higher value-added services trade. 
1.14.  It was equally important to continually improve the Investment Chapter to keep pace with 
their fast-growing economic cooperation. China had been Singapore’s top foreign investment 
destination since 1997 and Singapore had been China’s largest foreign investor in 2013. As of the 
first half of 2014, more than 5,700 Chinese companies had also been set up in Singapore. Singapore was happy to continue working with China to expand the coverage and strengthen the 
Investment Chapter so as to reinforce the found ations for an open investment environment.  
1.15.  The Agreement had been instrumental in bolstering trade flows and supporting companies. 
Singapore reiterated its firm commitment to the WTO and placed the highest priority in the multilateral trading system. Its work on bilateral and regional arrangements served to complement 
the multilateral process. The delegate thanked Chinese Taipei and Thailand for their written 
questions and stood ready to work with China on answering questions Members might have. 
1.16.  The representative of the European Union thanked the Parties for the comprehensive 
presentation of the Agreement and the Secretariat for preparing the Factual Presentation on this 
important and dynamic economic relationship. He noted that it was the first Agreement concerning China for which a trade in services component wa s to be considered by Members. He underlined 
that in important services sectors, such as financial, telecom, courier and construction services, 
the Parties had not taken additional commitments as compared to GATS. Furthermore, the domestic regulation chapter was rather basic, si milar to GATS Article VI commitments. However, 
he noted that in other areas, such as environmental and health services the Parties had taken 
additional commitments. The Agreement was also very liberal on mode 4 (movement of natural 
persons) providing for the stay for Business Visitors of up to 6 months and there was also a provision on visa facilitation. 
1.17.  The representative of the United States appreciated the hard work of the Parties and the 
Secretariat in preparing the Factual Presentation  that enabled the discussion, and the detailed and 
informative presentations provided by the Parties. However, he noted that both Parties had 
non-notified RTAs appearing in Table 5.2 of the Factual Presentation. He stressed the importance 
of the notifications and urged both Members to complete them as soon as possible. 
1.18.  The representative of Thailand apprecia ted the Parties' comprehensive presentations and 
thanked the Secretariat for the Factual Presentation. He also thanked China and Singapore for 
their responses adding that he would ask follow-up questions later, if necessary. 
1.19.  The representative of Chinese Taipei th anked the Secretariat and the Parties for their 
comprehensive Factual Presentation and the written replies to the questions her delegation had 
addressed. She would consult the capital on follow-up questions. 
1.20.  The Chairman said that consideration of the Goods and Services Aspects of the Free Trade 
Agreement between China and Singapore had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of 
questions and the oral discussion of this RTA could be concluded in accordance with paragraph 11 
of the Transparency Mechanism. If any delegation  wished to ask follow up questions they were 
invited to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 17 November 2014 and Parties were 
asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 1 December 2014. In accordance with 
paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all wr itten submissions, as well as minutes of this 
meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and would be made available on the WTO website.  
1.21.  The Committee took note of the comments made. 
 
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