Singapore and China deepen exchange in digital economy at 2nd Singapore-China Digital Policy Dialogue (DPD) in Chongqing, China

Singapore, 28 September 2025 – Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, Mr Tan Kiat How co-chaired the 2nd Singapore-China Digital Policy Dialogue (DPD) held in Chongqing, China with Head of National Data Administration (NDA) of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Liu Liehong.

2. The DPD is an important bilateral platform that brings together participants from government, private sector, and academia for high-level discussions on policy and industry development matters in the digital domain (see Annex A for background on the DPD).

3. Building on the inaugural DPD in June 2024, Singapore and China furthered discussions on harnessing opportunities in the digital economy to benefit enterprises and workers in both countries. The 2nd DPD discussed developments in two key areas - (i) Facilitating Trusted Commercial Data Flows; and (ii) Promoting Singapore-China Digital Exchange.

4. On Facilitating Trusted Commercial Data Flows, participants discussed steps to provide greater legal clarity for enterprises in the secure movement of data between jurisdictions and the various technological solutions that can enable this.

   1. The China-Singapore Joint Data Compliance Guide by the Asian Business Law Institute¹ (a think-tank under the Singapore Academy of Law) and Shenzhen Data Exchange was launched to provide a systematic and practical framework for cross-border data governance. This guide complements ongoing work to map baseline standards across jurisdictions, promoting clarity of legal obligations, thus reducing the possible legal risks and compliance friction, especially for enterprises that seek to enter the Chinese and ASEAN markets for the first time.

   2. Singapore shared on IMDA’s Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) Sandbox², one of the first in the region, that allows businesses to experiment and adopt new technologies to safeguard data privacy and security. While PETs are traditionally used for privacy protection and regulatory compliance, businesses from both countries can use this to unlock new opportunities in data collaboration and machine learning, enabling further innovation and growth.

5. On Promoting Singapore-China Digital Exchange, participants discussed the significant opportunities in applying digital technologies, especially Artificial Intelligence to reduce cost and improve efficiency for logistics and trade, as well as other cross-border transactions.

   1. The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) and the Shanghai Electronic Certification Authority (SHECA) are conducting a pilot called e-Apostilles³. Under this pilot, both parties will mutually recognise digitalised certificates issued by the respective countries’ appointed bodies. If successfully implemented, the digital certificate will significantly streamline the existing manual, paper-based process faced by companies that register businesses in both jurisdictions.

   2. IMDA has worked with multiple Chinese cities to complete successful TradeTrust pilots. TradeTrust offers businesses a solution that standardises digital trade and reduces the inefficiencies and complexities of cross-border trade arising from current paper-based documentation such as the bill of lading. In February 2025, Beijing-based AEOTrade has even successfully extended TradeTrust and its own digital trade solution AEOTradeChain to two new trade corridors across the world – China-Tanzania, and China-Singapore-Saudi Arabia. For Singapore, TradeTrust is more than just technology; it is a strategic national capability that anchors our position as a trusted hub of global commerce, strengthens the competitiveness of our enterprises, and ensures our businesses – from SMEs to multinationals – can participate confidently in the next phase of digital trade. TradeTrust embodies our ambition to shape the rules and infrastructure of tomorrow’s economy, so that Singapore remains indispensable to global trade flows in a digital age.

   3. Singapore shared on its National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0 and how it was being implemented. These include the launch of training and apprenticeship programmes to grow the pool of skilled workers and talent, and the establishment of AI Centres of Excellence to drive AI innovation. Both Singapore and Chinese companies also exchanged best practices on applying AI to drive industry and innovation, spurring the digital economy development of both countries.

6. Building on the past 35 years of multifaceted cooperation and robust economic ties between Singapore and China, these substantial deliverables over the past year since the inaugural DPD will benefit companies on both sides. Both countries will continue to identify opportunities in facilitating trusted data flows through digital technologies like PETs, and promoting digital exchange through identifying more use cases on digital verifiable credentials, to provide a more seamless and secure environment for trade and business on both sides The DPD will also be a useful platform to unlock significant untapped potential and to uncover mutual use cases and scenarios where AI enables industry by building on existing platforms for companies to increase their innovative capacity.

¹https://abli.asia/abli-publications/data-compliance-practice-guide-china-singapore-chapter/

²Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) enable businesses to obtain valuable insights from data while ensuring personal data protection, data privacy and the safeguard of commercially sensitive information. PETs allow for increased B2B data collaboration, cross border data flow and data collection for AI development.

³An apostille is a specialised certificate issued by a Competent Authority that verifies the authenticity of public documents (e.g. passports, educational certificates). Singapore acceded to the Apostille Convention in 2021, joining 126 countries (including China) in the issuance and acceptance of apostilles. This replaces the cumbersome and often costly process of legalisation, facilitating cross-border recognition and use of public documents.

Annex A: Background on Singapore-China Digital Policy Dialogue

Singapore and China agreed on the establishment of the DPD when then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met with Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang in April 2023.

Following this, the establishment of the DPD by MDDI (then known as the Ministry of Communications and Information) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People’s Republic of China was formally announced at the 19th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting co-chaired by then-Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang in Tianjin, China on 7 December 2023. The DPD will facilitate high-level discussions on developments and policy matters in the digital domain.

Singapore and China’s longstanding relationship predates the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990, and bilateral cooperation between Singapore and China has since grown in depth and scope. China has been Singapore’s largest merchandise trading partner while Singapore has been China’s largest foreign investor since 2013 and we continue to make progress in new areas of cooperation such as green development and the digital economy.