Opening Remarks by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Mr Edwin Tong SC, at the Singapore-China International Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference 2025

24 OCT 2025

任鸿斌会长 Mr Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). I am very delighted to have the opportunity to host you in Singapore.

To our many friends from China and Singapore

To our many distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

  1. Good morning to all of you.
  1. It is a real pleasure to welcome you to this very meaningful, and I believe, special edition of the Singapore-China International Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference.
  1. Let me tell you why it is special. It is special because this year’s conference is significant for not one, two, or even three reasons, but for four very important milestones, and let me share them with you.

(1) First, this is the 5th edition of the conference. As Chairman Ren reminded me when I met him in Beijing earlier this year and also this morning, there is a Chinese tradition, every 5th anniversary deserves a small celebration, and every 10th, a grander one. 五年一小庆，十年一大庆。我很期待和大家一起庆祝十周年纪念日。Today is a smaller celebration — I would say modest in scale, but I believe it will be very rich in meaning.

(2) Second, we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China – the relationship is the foundation of many partnerships in different fields, including law and dispute resolution. That foundation has been strong, and we continue to build on it. Since 1990, Singapore and China have collaborated on many key Government-to-Government (G-to-G) projects, namely the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Tianjin Eco-city, and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative. And through these regular G-to-G platforms, such as the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), which is happening later this year, as well as the eight Provincial Business Councils, we have been really able to foster a deeper and closer collaboration. We drive economic growth, we identify new opportunities for joint development, but all of that rests on strong people-to-people relations, mutual trust, as well as a strong and deep understanding.

(3) Third, this conference also coincides with the official visit of His Excellency Premier Li Qiang to Singapore – we will warmly welcome him shortly, his first visit here in his capacity as Premier.

(4) And finally, the fourth reason, for all of us in Singapore at least, this year is SG60. In Chinese tradition, turning 60 signifies the completion of a full cycle of the traditional calendar – perhaps even more meaningful than turning 50. I believe that we are starting this conference this morning, in a moment where we can look back with a lot of gratitude, but also look forward with renewed purpose. Indeed, this year is a year worthy of reflection, of celebration, and recommitment.

Special features of this year’s conference

  1. To mark these milestones, we have woven several symbolic touches into today’s programme. I do not know whether you have noticed it, but let me just share them with you — small, but very thoughtful gestures, that reflect the spirit and ethos of that friendship between Singapore and China.
  1. When you came into this conference room, you may have noticed the red backdrop – on stage and around you. Red is not just auspicious in Chinese culture, but also echoes both our national flags –  symbolising vitality, prosperity, and unity.
  1. The opening performance by Drum FENG, which was very stirring, is a fusion of Chinese and Malay drumming traditions, reflecting our diversity, while uniting us in a shared rhythm.
  1. And finally, later this evening, at the cocktail reception, you will see two things.

(1) First, a specially curated cocktail and mocktail that blend ingredients from both our countries — it is a tasteful and flavourful toast to our friendship. Each drink also carries a meaningful name, in both English and Chinese, which I am told that my Deputy Secretary (DS) Colin will reveal later today. We will not tell you the name until after the conference, so as to keep you focused on the conference.

(2) And as you leave, you will bring home a pair of specially designed, commemorative chopsticks. Why chopsticks? Because a single chopstick cannot serve any purpose; but paired with another, it can fulfil its function, and more. It is a quiet, but I believe, a powerful metaphor for this partnership that we have built – one that flourishes when both sides move in harmony, with mutual respect and shared purpose. My colleagues at MinLaw worked really hard in planning this conference, but they are very excited. They are so excited that they have even penned a short poem in both Chinese and English to explain the meaning behind this gift. All of you will have one of these gifts later today.

  1. Back to today’s conference. Beyond the commemorative touches, today’s conference brings together leaders and experts in international commercial dispute resolution — to exchange insights, share best practices, push the boundaries, explore innovations, and most importantly, strengthen our collaboration instinct in this field.
  1. The opening video that you saw earlier, highlighted the many interactions between the Singapore and Chinese legal communities over the years, reinforcing the very strong foundation of collaboration that today’s conference builds upon.
  1. This morning, I had the pleasure of presenting Chairman Ren with both the English and Chinese editions of a newly launched book, titled “Singapore and China: Neighbours to Friends, Friends to Partners” — a title that I believe beautifully captures the spirit of our journey. The editions that I presented to Chairman were signed by both co-editors: Ms Lee Huay Leng, Editor-in-Chief of SPH Chinese Media Group, and our Ambassador-at-Large, Prof Tommy Koh. Both of them have a deep understanding of Singapore-China relations that spanned many years, and I believe that the publication best captures and encapsulates that relationship.

Importance of regular interactions

  1. In many ways, our partnership with CCPIT mirrors the broader story of Singapore-China relations – built steadily over time, nurtured on trust and familiarity.
  1. I have been privileged to be involved in all five editions of this conference. I still remember our first conference. I was reminded just now by the video. I think my hair was blacker, I looked younger and maybe a bit fresher, but I am no less determined and excited today. Back in those days, the relations were a bit more formal, more polite, more cautious. Fast forward to today, a few years later, and I think the atmosphere has changed. Many of you, not just at the senior leadership level, now know each other well. There is warmth, there is camaraderie, and there is a deep energy even before the conference began.
  1. On each occasion when we meet with our colleagues at the CCPIT, our friendship deepens and our bond grows stronger. We find ways in which we can make our collaborations work better, and there is a genuine mutual desire to enhance our collaboration, and make it more meaningful.
  1. In fact, I think you saw in the video earlier, I had just met Chairman and the CCPIT in Beijing in July this year. We had a very open conversation about how we could strengthen cooperation in commercial law, with the aim of offering better guidance and support to businesses. Law is not a means in itself; law is a means to an end. It helps us facilitate business, allow investment, drive economic growth and ultimately lead to progress and prosperity for people of both our countries.
  1. One good example of our strong people-to-people relations is in our collaboration with the Singapore–Shanghai Lawyers Exchange Programme. Two years ago, at this very conference, we welcomed the first batch of 10 Shanghai lawyers to Singapore for a 3-month attachment with our law practices. We brought them here, they were embedded in our law firms, and I believe they learnt a lot. They learnt what it meant to have ‘laksa’, they knew how to order their ‘kopi’, and they understood that 海南鸡饭 (Hainanese Chicken Rice) in Singapore is a little bit different. We even taught them how to ‘yum seng’ at dinners, and I am not sure that when they went back, if their neighbours appreciated the noise that was created, but we made them partially Singaporean. In that story is something deeper. It is about understanding each other’s culture deeply. We can learn the laws, and we can learn the rules. But when you are embedded in each other’s work culture every day, understanding how you advise the clients, the psyche and the business needs, I think that helps you to solidify a deeper understanding, and that is what we sought to do.
  1. When I was in Shanghai last week, I met them again. I was very heartened to see that they now got along very well, immersing in each other’s cultures, and understanding the subtle nuances. Some of our Chinese lawyers even spoke to me in Singlish, which took me by surprise. I think this has become a very powerful bridge to allow us to appreciate the deeper context in which we practice, how we can serve our clients better, and also how we can build stronger, more long-lasting relations.
  1. This deepening of cooperation is also aided by the growing presence of Chinese law firms and institutions that set up in Singapore. Just last week, at the 6th Singapore-Shanghai Comprehensive Cooperation Council (SSCCC), we signed an MOU with the Shanghai International Arbitration Centre (SHIAC) for it to establish an office right here in Singapore, and we were very happy to host them. We are building Singapore into a thought leadership venue, where the world’s best dispute resolution institutions will anchor themselves in Singapore, and we look forward to welcoming the SHIAC. Their presence will enrich our ecosystem – with both Singapore and foreign institutions working side by side, offering choice to users worldwide.
  1. I am therefore delighted that, later today, we will move this along even more. MinLaw, CCPIT, as well as leading Singapore and Chinese institutions will sign a Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Promoting International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Resolution. This is a shared commitment to advance our collaboration and deepen professional exchange. I am very confident with our deep relations, that this will not just be a paper collaboration. It will go beyond. It will enhance collaboration, and it will deepen cooperation at all levels between Singapore and China.

China’s transformation

  1. These regular exchanges between Singapore and China – they do more than just deepen institutional cooperation. There is a point I want to turn to. It has been a vital part of the growth of both our economies. Since 2013, Singapore has been China’s largest foreign investor, and in the same period, China is Singapore’s largest trading partner.
  1. Law follows business, so we need to support the growth of these businesses and allow them to flourish even more. We have a strong platform, but I think we can do more. Having spent much of my early career as a practising lawyer, I know first-hand that business confidence rests on legal certainty. You won’t invest in a jurisdiction where you are not sure if something goes wrong, what might happen to your investment. Confidence, transparency, predictability – these are very important elements for good business flows.
  1. In my years of practice, I witnessed the remarkable rise of China as well – not just as an economic powerhouse, but also as a jurisdiction that has steadily deepened its legal sophistication. Back in the 1990s, when I first entered practice, China was already opening up to the world, but its legal framework and dispute resolution mechanisms were still being drafted and still taking shape. Contracts could be unpredictable, and cross-border enforcement, perhaps not so straightforward.
  1. Fast forward to today, China is the world’s second-largest economy — a global hub of manufacturing, technology, and innovation. Its growth in trade, investment, and infrastructure has been matched by the rise of a modern, robust legal ecosystem. I would argue that in fact, its economic progress has been driven, in part, by its legal sophistication: professionalised courts, credible arbitral institutions, and an increasingly global-minded legal community.
  1. This emphasis on building foreign-related legal talent is particularly strategic. Across the country, universities and local governments are training practitioners equipped in both domestic as well as international law. In Beijing, for example, the China University of Political Science and Law, together with the Beijing Bureau of Justice, recently launched a “Foreign-Related Rule of Law Talent Base”, to prepare lawyers for cross-border work. That is the ethos of the learning in China, to think outwards and I think we need to match that. Similar initiatives are also happening in cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhejiang, and Shaanxi. 
  1. These efforts demonstrate China’s strong commitment to integrate with the international legal community – to support Chinese enterprises going global, and to contribute to global legal norms and governance.
  1. I believe that this presents rich opportunities for collaboration between Singapore and China. As a neutral, trusted, and well-connected legal hub, Singapore complements China’s outward engagement. We offer, in Singapore, a legal system with a reputation for impartiality, transparency, and efficiency, a vibrant cluster of leading international firms based in Singapore and leading dispute resolution institutions operating out of Singapore, and a deep pool of bilingual, cross-border legal talent familiar with both the civil and common law traditions.
  1. Together, I believe we can connect China’s growing international legal capacity with Singapore’s deep strengths as a convening platform and a neutral venue, to support businesses across Asia and beyond.

Looking Ahead

  1. Two years ago on this platform, I suggested two areas of cooperation –

(1) first, to promote dispute resolution services to Chinese enterprises particularly those on the BRI route.

(2) and second, to facilitate secondments between our law firms and businesses.

  1. We have done this, and remain highly relevant today
  1. I thought this morning, before I conclude, I will add two more areas of collaboration that we can consider.

(1) We can work together to co-develop training and capacity-building programmes, establish structured people-to-people exchanges deeper, and conduct joint research and outreach on international dispute resolution. I believe that these initiatives, which are very forward and outward looking, will nurture a new generation of lawyers and professionals, who are comfortable navigating both systems, and are able to bridge legal cultures across Asia.

(2) We can also build joint expertise in fast-evolving areas, such as IP, sanctions, compliance, green financing, artificial intelligence, and digital trade. These are new frontiers for both countries. But by sharing experience and knowledge early on and coming together, learning fast in these areas as they are growing and innovating, you want to push the boundaries a lot more. We can strengthen our collective ability to support businesses, uphold sound governance in the digital and sustainable economies of the future.

  1. I am very happy that CCPIT shares the same vision. Some of these ideas that I just mentioned were talked about between our teams yesterday and this morning, we already reached a broad consensus on what we can do. We are now exploring another MOU, hopefully in time for our JCBC later this year. This reflects what I said earlier about the importance of strengthening the connections between our people, so that they form the foundation for all the good that we can do together collaboratively.

Conclusion

  1. Let me now conclude very quickly.  As you participate in today’s sessions and there will be a myriad of different sessions, I encourage you to engage actively, to share openly, and most importantly, to connect meaningfully. Build networks, make friends across different jurisdictions. Every conversation, every idea that you exchange today will help to deepen understanding. It will allow us to understand the nuances, understand and appreciate each other’s strengths, appreciate the challenges that we face, but most importantly in the process, build trust between our legal communities, laying the foundation for even stronger partnership moving forward.
  1. Singapore and China are not partners merely because of geography or trade, but because we share common values – trust, mutual respect, and a deep Asian culture and a commitment to collaboration. These values continue to guide how we work together to promote peace, prosperity, and fairness in our region.
  1. On our part, MinLaw is committed to work with CCPIT and our friends from China to exchange experience and expertise, to build stronger professional networks, and to co-develop innovative solutions to tackle the emerging challenges that we will face, in a troubled world that is fractured by ideology, and sometimes, military, and economic might.
  1. In a rules-based economy, in multilateralism, in the sense of fair play and governance, we can work with CCPIT and our Chinese friends. I am very confident that by deepening our cooperation in law and dispute resolution, we will help the businesses grow with confidence, strengthen the resilience of our economies, and contribute to a more connected and rules-based region.
  1. Thank you very much for your presence here this morning, I look forward to meeting with you, and do not forget to go home with a taste of the cocktail or mocktail, and a pair of the chopsticks to symbolise that deep relationship. Thank you very much.

Last updated on 24 October 2025