Chongqing, Singapore to co-host 2020 Smart China Expo

CHONGQING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Singapore will co-host the 2020 Smart China Expo, according to a letter of intent signed by the two sides.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity, and will see Singapore, the guest of honor for the past two expos, become one of the hosts of the expo.

It shows Singapore's strong belief in China's economic and social development and opportunities in Chongqing, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore.

By the end of February, 55 cooperation agreements and 204 cooperation projects worth more than 30 billion U.S. dollars had been signed under the intergovernmental initiative since it was launched in 2015.

The Smart China Expo, an international event focusing on smart technology, has been held twice in Chongqing since 2018. A total of 530 projects involving 816.9 billion yuan (about 117.88 billion U.S. dollars) of investment were signed during last year's expo.

Chongqing and Singapore inked 13 memorandums of understanding, covering sectors including an augmented reality education system for preschools, intelligent manufacturing market development and artificial intelligence research, at last year's expo to boost bilateral cooperation in the digital economy.