only international private banking centre outside of china and hong kong. this vibrant economic connection between our two countries rests on the bedrock of a strong bilateral relationship that has grown and matured over the years. when president xi jinping and prime minister lee hsien loong met in hamburg in july this year on the side of the g20 meeting, they reaffirmed our close ties and discussed how china and singapore could strengthen cross - border collaboration. in the past few months, various leaders of our two countries have met, always with the same purpose : to broaden relations, build connectivity, boost mutual prosperity. progress of the chongqing connectivity initiative against this strong economic relationship between our two countries, the chongqing connectivity initiative ( cci ) has made remarkable progress. trade between chongqing and singapore has been growing at a healthy annual average of 5. 2 % in the last five years. annual direct investment between our two cities has more than doubled during this period, from rmb 7. 4 billion to rmb 22. 2 billion ( us $ 1. 2 billion to us $ 3. 2 billion ). the financial co - operation pillar of the cci has helped chongqing corporates to raise offshore financing from singapore ’ s financial centre. as of end - 2016, 39 cross - border financing deals amounting to rmb 22 billion have been completed. the average financing cost for these deals in 2016 was about 4. 86 %, a good 70 basis points lower than the average interest rate for one - to three - year rmb loans in chongqing. the savings in financing costs amounted to rmb 152 million. chongqing companies have expanded into asia, with the support of singapore financial institutions. the china chongqing international economic and technical cooperation group ( cicet ), is the first chongqing state - owned enterprise to set up in singapore. united overseas bank ( china ) supported this significant move. collaboration through the cci is starting to unlock financing channels for small and mediumsized enterprises in chongqing. ocbc bank limited and chongqing rural commercial bank are working on innovative solutions to provide cross - border funding to small and medium - sized enterprises in chongqing. one of our panel sessions later will be discussing this topic in greater depth. the cci has become the major artery that connects singapore to chongqing financially. but more than that, it has the potential to help make chongqing the beating heart of the western region. let me suggest four areas of financial collaboration in

##sidencies. the italian presidency has also promoted the development of a global baseline for disclosing and reporting sustainability information ; it has focused on metrics for classifying and verifying sustainable investment ; and it has called on international financial institutions to align their operations with the aims of the paris agreement. other initiatives to further promote sustainability include : the request to the imf and the international organisations of the interagency group on economic and financial statistics to consider climate - related data needs in preparing a new data gap initiative ; the work carried out by the financial stability board to both address data gaps on climate - related financial risks and enhance disclosures ; the proposal to examine how to scale - up digital finance to promote sustainable growth ; and the analytical review of specific solutions to achieve climate neutrality, including carbon pricing. digitalisation also received ample consideration in our agenda. in july the g20 menu of policy options on digital transformation and productivity recovery was endorsed. it provides an overview of measures to revive productivity growth, with a particular focus on digital platforms, digital skills and intangible assets. this menu will contribute to future discussions within the g20 and will eventually serve as a guide for effective policies and regulations, to ensure that the benefits of digitalisation and innovation are fully exploited and evenly shared. as part of our drive to foster the development of new technologies, in may the bank of italy and the bank for international settlements ( bis ) innovation hub, through its singapore centre, launched a new g20 techsprint, following an analogous initiative last year by the saudi arabian presidency. our international hackathon received about 250 draft proposals and 99 full applications from 25 countries ; 21 teams advanced to the final stage and the 3 most promising solutions for the proposed challenges, which concerned green and sustainable finance, won the competition. these 3 teams are now competing in the global fintech hackcelerator organised by the monetary authority of singapore at this festival. i am recording this message before the announcement of the winners, so i wish them all the best of luck. our attention to the opportunities offered by digitalisation has gone hand in hand with a focus on the challenges that it poses to financial inclusion. the digitalisation of payments and financial services has accelerated sharply during the pandemic. in lower income countries, many citizens can access basic financial services only through online providers. without comprehensive financial awareness and better consumer protection, consumers, not only in less developed countries, may find themselves exposed to risks due to digitalisation. the