Singapore businesses will invest more on the Chinese mainland if China further improves its business environment, Lim Hwee Hua, deputy speaker of the Singaporean Parliament, said in Shanghai on Friday.

"China is considered a powerful engine for Asia's economic development which will create more business opportunities for overseas investors," Lim said at the China-Singapore Partnership Forum 2003 which closed on Friday.

But the opportunities will be greater still if China does more to accommodate investors, beyond the reforms introduced when it joined the World Trade Organization, she said.

Her remarks were echoed by Lois Dougan Tretiak, vice-president of the China Economist Corporate Network, who said the country should advance its social credit system to ease consumer concerns.

Tretiak suggested China avoid duplicating projects in different regions.

She said a project's design and construction should be market-driven rather than government planned.

More than 350 business people, economists and government officials took part in the forum which was sponsored by Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, CapitaLand and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

Participants from the United States, Britain, Australia, Europe and the Middle East considered the forum a platform for new Sino-foreign economic co-operation.

They suggested local Chinese government departments should give more support to the development of private firms since they contribute half of the nation's gross domestic product.

Lim, also the managing director (strategic relations) of Temasek Holdings, said Singapore companies have invested more than US$20 billion in manufacturing, real estate, commerce and finance on the Chinese mainland.

"They are trying to enlarge their share of the Chinese market by putting more money into it," she said.

CapitaLand, for example, has injected 5 billion yuan (US$600 million) into real estate projects in Shanghai. The projects will cost 7 billion yuan (US$846 million) more before they are completed, said CapitaLand President Liew Mun Leong.

"New investment on the mainland within the next three to five years is expected to exceed this (combined) figure of 12 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion)," Liew said.

Lee Yi Shyan, chief executive officer of IE Singapore, said Singapore will bring more funds, technology and management expertise to the mainland to develop a win-win partnership.

(China Daily August 2, 2003)