JINAN, CHINA – Singapore and China’s Shandong province celebrated 33 years of economic partnership at the 26th Singapore-Shandong Business Council meeting on March 31, signing 10 agreements spanning high-end sports shoe automation, biofuel exports, green technology, tourism, and youth exchanges.
Co-chaired by Shandong Governor Zhou Naixiang and Singapore’s Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow, the event underscored the council’s pioneering role as China’s first provincial-level mechanism with Singapore since 1993. Bilateral trade has surged 35-fold to 57.13 billion yuan (S$10.68 billion) in 2025, per Enterprise Singapore.
Over 657 Singaporean firms have invested US$8.54 billion in Shandong, while more than 300 Shandong companies use Singapore as a launchpad for global markets, with 130 expanding internationally.
Leaders called for deeper alignment in green development, AI, elderly care, digital trade, and biomedicine. Mr. Zhou emphasized high-quality projects, while Mr. Siow stressed people-to-people bridges amid global fragmentation, noting over 80 Singaporean students’ immersions in Shandong and 40 Shandong interns in Singapore recently.
Green initiatives dominated discussions, with services contributing 5.59 trillion yuan and digital economy over half of Shandong’s GDP last year. Singapore’s 3E Memtech showcased energy-efficient nano-filtration membranes treating 25 percent of Feicheng city’s drinking water, now adapting for biodegradable plastics via Chinese Academy of Sciences collaboration. Marketing director Zhang Lixin praised Shandong’s industrial diversity for broader applications.
Shandong Hi-Speed Group aims for 300 MW of overseas renewables by 2030, having acquired 27 Singapore solar stations in 2025, with projects in Laos, Cambodia, South Korea, and Oman. The firm views Singapore’s stable policies and green finance as a “bridgehead” to Southeast Asia, Oceania, and beyond.
Commodities trader Lobb Heng Group inked a deal for a copper trading hub in Tai’an, vital for EVs and solar panels. Financial controller Liew Meng Kaei highlighted logistics advantages amid China’s record solar and wind additions, with Shandong targeting 200 million kW non-fossil capacity in five years.