The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the People’s Bank of China (PBC) are looking to enable designated banks in Singapore to offer custody and trading services for global investors in China’s bond market. Third, providing opportunities for our financial institutions to grow in each other’s markets. The Bank of China and ICBC are among the select group of nine Qualifying Full Banks in Singapore; five Chinese banks are licensed as Wholesale Banks. All three Singapore-headquartered local banks are incorporated in China. The Shanghai-Singapore Connection Within this broader canvass of financial co-operation, the ties between Shanghai and Singapore have been intensifying. Singapore banks are deepening their partnerships in Shanghai – DBS and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank in loan syndication and joint bond underwriting; OCBC and Bank of Shanghai in digital banking and supply chain financing; 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  UOB and Shenergy Group in establishing a consumer finance corporation. Our exchanges are working closer together. The Asia Pacific Exchange (APEX), a commodities derivatives exchange in Singapore, is collaborating with the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) to attract more international institutional investors to China’s commodity derivatives markets. The co-operation between the regulators has been growing stronger. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau have been organising since 2017 a joint training and exchange programme for financial agencies and institutions from both cities. MAS and the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau have also organised since 2015 four editions of the Singapore-Shanghai Financial Forum (SSFF).

As Vice Premier Liu He said earlier, we must focus on increasing the proportion of SME loans, to promote economic transformation and upgrading. Two, we could work together to apply innovative FinTech solutions to promote green finance. The Sustainable Digital Finance Alliance (SDFA) founded by China’s Alibaba Ant Financial and UNEP is a good example. The SDFA has engaged the FinTech community on applying digital technology to promote green finance – such as the digitisation of green bonds. MAS’ annual Global FinTech Hackcelerator is another platform through which financial institutions and FinTech firms in Shanghai and Singapore can collaborate on innovative green finance solutions. The Hackcelerator is a global competition that invites market-ready solutions for real problems faced by the financial industry. This year, green finance is a key theme for the programme, and because of the Covid19 situation, we are conducting the entire Hackcelerator – from sourcing proposed solutions to curating prototypes – on a cloud-based platform called the API Exchange (APIX). Through APIX, financial institutions and FinTech firms in Shanghai can engage other players across Asia in collaborative experiments to create digital solutions to support green finance. I would also like to take this opportunity to invite Shanghai FinTech firms and financial institutions to participate in the Singapore FinTech Festival this November. Conclusion There is much that our two financial centres can do together.