SINGAPORE - Six agreements were signed between Singapore companies and organisations from Guangxi on Monday (Dec 2), furthering economic and trade ties between the Republic and the Chinese region.

Among the Singapore entities who inked memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were DBS Bank, government solutions provider CrimsonLogic and non-profit youth organisation *Scape.

The MOUs were inked at a forum organised by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to deepen business collaboration between China and Asean. The one-day event was held at Mandarin Orchard Hotel.

Mr Qin Rupei, Communist Party of China Guangxi standing committee member and executive vice governor of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, suggested five areas to further relations between Singapore and Guangxi.

These include the promotion of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, as well as the mutual exchange of financial information and sharing of the benefits of the digital economy.

Mr Lee Yi Shyan, who is chairman of Singapore-based trade and cultural bridging non-profit organisation Business China, said in his address on Monday that the finance industry can also benefit from the trade corridor alongside the logistics and supply chain sector.

Guangxi can boost the exchange of the Chinese yuan and Asean currencies through banks and improve cross-border currency transfer mechanisms, he noted. The region can also encourage organisations from central and western China to invest in Singapore, Mr Lee added.

Singapore Business Federation chairman Teo Siong Seng said that Singapore is a springboard for Chinese companies to invest globally, pointing out that there are more than 7,000 Chinese companies in Singapore, of which around 160 are listed here.

Chinese firms can continue to use Singapore as a regional base and leverage on Singapore enterprises' global networks to build partnerships with corporations around the world, making joint investments to develop third-party markets, he added.

Around 150 people, including business leaders and academics, attended the forum on Monday.

In May this year, seven agreements were signed at a forum focused on the new land-sea corridor that aims to facilitate trade between South-east Asia and western China through Singapore.

Among the agreements signed was an investment cooperation pact between Guangxi Investment Group and Grab Singapore.