China's southeast coastal province of Guangdong is drawing on Singapore's development and administrative experience in constructing the Sino- Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, a huge joint venture project aimed at setting the trend for sustainable and knowledge-based cities.
Ten memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and cooperation agreements related to the project were signed on June 5, covering areas such as general governance, social development and township management. Other projects include communications, advanced library system, education, public safety and security solutions, a green hospital, animation production and training facilities.
Most of the agreements are between Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Investment and Development Co., Ltd and companies from China, Singapore, Germany and Sweden.
Tay Hun Kiat, chief executive officer of the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Investment and Development Co., Ltd, said that the signing of the agreements marked another milestone achievement in the joint venture's software development and strategic initiatives platform.
"These signings reflect that investors' confidence in the Guangzhou Knowledge City project is still high," said Tay."The reason is not only because of the Sino-Singapore partnership, but also because many are hoping to catch Guangdong's next economic wave which they feel is likely to come from the ongoing economic restructuring and upgrading efforts," Tay added.
The Guangzhou Knowledge City is a 50-50 joint venture project envisioned to be a sustainable city based on knowledge and talent which covers an area of 123 square kilometers in Guangzhou. Guangdong is seeking a sustainable approach to its economic development as southeastern coastal cities come under pressure after decades of rapid industrialization.
Construction in the city area started in October 2010, and officials say that 69 projects under the joint venture have attracted investments worth 37 billion RMB (5.8 billion USD).
The signing of the agreements were witnessed by Wang Yang, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Wei Wei, Singapore's Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Lui Tuck Yew and Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Lee Yi Shyan.
