MAS opens office in Beijing

It’s the third overseas representative office of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Singapore’s central bank said the new representative office will help further strengthen bilateral collaboration with China and other Chinese financial authorities.

"MAS sees great value in establishing a physical presence in Beijing to facilitate future cooperation and regular interactions,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam who is also MAS chairman.

“We look forward to leverage on this milestone collaboration to deepen our financial and economic cooperation and take our bilateral relations to new heights.”

China and Singapore have been important partners in economy and trade. Bilateral trade between China and Singapore grew by 8.7% year- on-year to US$69.3 billion in 2012.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the largest Chinese bank, kicked off its renminbi clearing bank services in Singapore this week, making the city state the only country outside China to have a renminbi clearing bank. ICBC and Bank of China, two of the Big Four state-owned banks, were both granted qualifying full bank licenses in 2012.