Visa free economic and trade exchanges between China and Singapore may continue to heat up

On January 25th, representatives of the government of the People's Republic of China and the government of the Republic of Singapore signed the "Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Singapore on Mutual Exemption of Visa for Individuals Holding Ordinary Passports" in Beijing.
According to the above agreement, starting from February 9, 2024, individuals holding ordinary passports from both parties can enter each other's country without a visa and stay for no more than 30 days. Those who enter the other country for work, news reporting, and other activities that require prior approval, as well as those who intend to stay in the other country for more than 30 days, must obtain the corresponding visa before entering the other country.
After the news was released, Singapore's real-time search popularity on travel platforms quickly increased. Taking the Ctrip platform as an example, just ten minutes after the news was released, the popularity of Singapore related tourism products has increased by more than 30% month on month, and there is a continuous upward trend. At the same time, the enthusiasm of Singaporean tourists entering China has also been quickly ignited. According to data from Ctrip Group's overseas platform Trip.com, the search popularity of Singaporean tourists searching for Chinese keywords has increased by over 20% compared to the previous month; Since the beginning of this year, the number of tourism product orders booked by Singaporean tourists entering China has increased by 66% month on month.

Singapore and China are partners of the "the Belt and Road" Initiative, and tourism has become an important scene of exchanges between the two countries. In February 2023, Singapore became one of the first open destinations for outbound tourism. Some industry insiders believe that the signing of the visa free agreement between the two countries will provide more convenience for the exchange of tourists between the two countries, and also bring new market opportunities for tourism enterprises in both countries. Singapore has become an important outbound destination for Chinese tourists during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday. According to Ctrip data, as of January 24th, the order volume of Chinese tourists visiting Singapore during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday has increased by more than 14 times year-on-year. The relevant person in charge of Ctrip Group introduced that on February 9th, on the day of visa waiver, Ctrip will organize Chinese tourist gathering groups to enter Shicheng in Beijing and Shanghai respectively, as the first batch of visa free tourists to embark on the first "go" trip during the Chinese New Year.

Chen Guanqi, Vice President of Ctrip Group, stated that Ctrip Group has always been one of the important partners of Singapore Tourism Authority in China and globally. The two sides have established a long-term partnership since 2012, actively promoting Singapore to become the preferred tourist destination for international travelers. In 2024, the Singapore Tourism Authority will successively launch four new themed gameplay methods: urban wonders, forest healing, time and space travel, and fantasy land. While enhancing the experience of leisure tourism, it will use more and updated methods to allow Chinese tourists to understand a different Singapore from a new perspective. In the future, Ctrip Group will continue to rely on the advantages of the entire industry chain and high-quality user services to meet the different needs of tourists, continuously improve the tourism experience, attract more tourists to Singapore through the promotion of high-quality resources and comfortable experiences, and continue to attract tourists to Singapore. At the same time, it will help upgrade Singapore's tourism products and digital marketing, and continue to work hard to expand domestic customer sources and carry out international tourism promotion for Singapore.
Zhou Shixin, Associate Researcher at the Asia Pacific Research Center of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, stated that frequent visits between China and ASEAN countries, including Singapore, have led to the implementation of visa facilitation measures, which are not only beneficial for the tourism industry, but also have positive implications for driving economic and trade development and facilitating connections in more fields.
Data shows that since 2013, China has been Singapore's largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years. The latest data from the Singapore Bureau of Statistics shows that the bilateral import and export volume of goods between Singapore and China in 2023 was SGD 167 billion (US $125.3 billion), reaching a new high in 11 years.
Last year, during the official visit of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to China, China and Singapore jointly issued a joint statement on establishing a comprehensive and high-quality forward-looking partnership. From then on, China and Singapore officially upgraded their bilateral relations, ushering in a new stage of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In April of the same year, both China and Singapore announced the substantial completion of negotiations to further upgrade their free trade agreement. Afterwards, the teams of both parties intensified their work and jointly completed the legal review and translation of the agreement text, respectively fulfilling their domestic procedures and finally signing the relevant protocols.
It is worth noting that before the escalation of bilateral relations, China and Singapore adopted a positive list approach, assuming open international obligations in the areas listed on the positive list and not making open commitments in the areas not listed. After the upgrade, except for the prohibited or restrictive areas clearly listed on the negative list, the other party's enterprise can engage in all other service trade and investment activities, enjoy the same treatment as its own nationals, and neither party will set any other obstacles. Through upgrading, the market access in the fields of service trade and investment between China and Singapore has completed a leap towards a negative list management system.