China-Singapore Design Cooperation Enters New Phase of Operationalization! Chongqing Representative Office of Design Business Chamber Singapore Officially Established

On December 1st, the inauguration ceremony for the Chongqing Representative Office of the Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS) was held at the Chongqing Industrial Design Headquarters Base in Yuzhong District. This marks the first internationally registered design industry organization to establish a physical presence in Chongqing and currently serves as the Chamber’s sole representative office in China. It signifies that China-Singapore design collaboration has progressed from strategic frameworks to tangible operations, injecting new international momentum into Chongqing’s development as a “City of Design.”

Pictured: Chongqing Representative Office of Design Business Chamber Singapore Officially Established

During the event, representatives from Chongqing and Singapore jointly unveiled the plaque for the representative office and witnessed the signing of the Strategic Agreement on the Construction of the China-Singapore International Design Cooperation Demonstration Park.

Picture: Signing the “Strategic Agreement on the Construction of the China-Singapore International Design Cooperation Demonstration Park”

It is understood that since Chongqing joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Design in October 2023, the city has continuously deepened international cooperation in the design field and actively built an “International Design Friends Circle.” The formal establishment of the Chongqing Representative Office of the Design Business Chamber Singapore represents a further deepening of the bilateral cooperation mechanism following the release of the China-Singapore Design Co-creation Plan. It will advance practical cooperation across multiple areas, including industrial design, service design, and talent cultivation.

In her address, Luo Li, Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, stated that the official opening of the representative office marks a new starting point for deepening practical cooperation and achieving mutual benefits between China and Singapore in design. She expressed hope that this event would serve as an opportunity to promote the connection of Chongqing with international resources, expand industrial collaboration, cultivate design talents with both global perspectives and local characteristics, and help propel Chongqing’s design innovation onto the global stage.

Hong Khai Seng, Chairman of the Design Business Chamber Singapore, stated that the Chongqing Representative Office will become an important hub connecting the design and industrial sectors of Singapore and Chongqing. In the future, it will provide services such as professional consulting, international courses, and industrial linkage, facilitating cooperation channels between Chongqing and Singapore, as well as the ASEAN region.

Picture: The scene of the event

Wang Cheng, a member of the Yuzhong District Government’s leadership team, stated that since the implementation of the China-Singapore Connectivity Initiative, Yuzhong District has cumulatively attracted over 50 Singapore-funded enterprises, including Capitaland Group, accounting for one-third of the city’s total. More than 30 key projects, such as Raffles City and Guohao 18T, have been established with investments exceeding USD 5.6 billion, representing one-fifth of the city’s total. Three major Singaporean banks—DBS, UOB, and OCBC—have gathered in the district, and cross-border financial service projects account for over half of the city’s total, making Yuzhong the “first stop” for Singaporean enterprises exploring the western China market. Standing at this new starting point, he expressed anticipation for collaborating with the Design Business Chamber Singapore to jointly build a design innovation ecosystem, promote industrial transformation and upgrading, and expand open cooperation spaces.

Currently, Chongqing is driving industrial innovation and urban upgrading through design. The city now boasts 11 national-level industrial design centers and 237 municipal-level centers, with industrial design driving nearly CNY 700 billion in sales of new products from large-scale industrial enterprises. In recent years, Chongqing has not only established design cooperation platforms with multiple countries, including Singapore and South Korea, but has also actively participated in the global Creative Cities Network. It has engaged in exchanges with cities such as Berlin, Saint-Étienne, and Detroit, promoting “Chongqing Design” to the world.

It is reported that within the next 1–2 years, the representative office will establish a database of key enterprises in Chongqing, facilitate the implementation of the first batch of China-Singapore design cooperation projects, and collaborate with local institutions to build international design education cooperation bases. It aims to become a core node connecting design resources between central-western China and Singapore within five years.

As China-Singapore design cooperation enters a new phase of physical and institutionalized operations, Chongqing is leveraging design as a link to connect with global creative resources, accelerating the transformation of this western industrial hub into a global center for design innovation.

Source: Shangyou News | Reporter: Hou Jia