中文版

Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong
Vice Chairperson, Mr Xu Kuang Di
Mr Li Rong Rong, Chairman, SASAC (State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council)
Mr Yang Yuan Yuan, Director General, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)
Mr Wang Qi Shan, Mayor of Beijing
Distinguished Guests
Ladies & Gentlemen

Introduction

大家晚上好！[Da jia wan shang hao = good evening everyone]

First of all, I would like to thank Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for his presence as Guest-of-Honour tonight. We are gathered here tonight to renew friendships and forge stronger ties, and to thank our friends and partners in China. Our Beijing Representative Office started operations in September last year and tonight we celebrate its official opening. Thank you all for being here with us.

China’s Remarkable Economic Growth

It is a common and true observation that the economic growth of China is remarkable.

Today, China has become the world’s third largest trading nation, behind the United States and Germany. Her foreign reserves are at record highs. There is robust flow of foreign investments into China. Many Chinese enterprises are doing well. Several are emerging regional or global champions as they expand their network and operations outside China.

These changes are driven by the clear commitment at all levels of society to transform into a market economy. We also see firm leadership commitment to progressively integrate China into the global markets with its entry into the WTO.

Against this backdrop of China’s peaceful emergence, business opportunities for both Chinese and foreign companies have flourished. More than 200 million Chinese have also been lifted out from poverty.

Since the visit of Mr Deng Xiao Ping to Singapore in 1979, Singapore has been actively engaged with China across many fronts. At the business level, Temasek and our group of companies have gradually built up strong economic relationships with China over the last 20 years.

Temasek’s Strong Economic Relationship with China

Temasek is an investment company anchored in Asia. We are optimistic about Asia’s transformation. Through our various investments, we hope to both benefit from and contribute to Asia’s continued development.

Investments in China are part of the core holding in our portfolio. While the risks and challenges are many in the road ahead, we are confident of China’s long-term prospects. Part of our confidence is derived from her able, rational and far-sighted leadership. Another part is driven by the quality of her people – their energy, their drive, and their capacity and capability for learning and innovation, and most of all, their passion to make a difference for themselves and their future generations. It is because of these qualities that Temasek has decided to increase its exposure to China substantially.

Temasek Investment Themes in China

At the Temasek Holding company level, we have strengthened our direct linkage with Chinese enterprises and other organizations, particularly in the last two years as part of our Asia focus. Apart from our Representative Office in Beijing, we opened an office in Hongkong this year. We hope to open an office in Shanghai in the medium term as well.

Going forward, we are keen to progress along two main investment themes in China:

Firstly, we are interested in investing in large companies or state-owned enterprises that serve as broad-based proxies of the economic transformation in China. These include the banking and financial sector, the energy and resources sector, as well as various infrastructure projects.

Secondly, we are keen to invest in promising and fast growing businesses, particularly those that meet the growing consumer demands, or those which facilitate the integration of China with the regional and global economy. In particular, we hope to participate in serving the needs of the growing and emerging middle income group through our investments.

We are committed to playing our role as a constructive shareholder in our various portfolio companies. As Chinese enterprises seek further growth, we will look for opportunities to partner and work with them in their expansion to become regional and global champions. We hope to do this by tapping into our network of partners, friends and our portfolio of companies in the region and globally.

Some Temasek Investments in China

At the Temasek level, we have increased our direct portfolio exposure to China to around S$4 billion (Rmb 19 billion) this year.
One example is our partnership with SIA Cargo and China Great Wall Industry [中国长城工业– zhong guo chang zheng kung yieh] to form a new cargo airline. This new airline will serve the needs within China, and venture abroad to cover Asia, US and Europe as well. It plans to begin operations in the first half of next year. Such investments both serve China’s domestic needs as well as contribute to her growth as an efficient market economy that is smoothly integrated to the global economy.

As with our exposure to other Asian economies, investments in the banking and financial sector in China provide us a broad-based exposure to the economy as a whole. To-date, our investments through our wholly-owned Asia Financial Holdings include China Minsheng Bank and China Construction Bank. We look forward to the regulatory approvals for our proposed 10% investment into Bank of China. We are keen to contribute as an active investor and a responsible long-term shareholder to the on-going transformation of the financial sector.

Temasek-Linked Companies in China

Separately, our Temasek-linked companies or TLCs have also made long-term commitments to China, through various investments and partnerships over the last 20 years.

Starting from mainly properties, hotels and services-related investments in the 1980s, their investments now cover a variety of industries, from financial services and manufacturing to ports, transportation and logistics.

In terms of geographical coverage, our TLCs operate mainly in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Suzhou and Dalian. With the development of the Western and Northeast regions of China, a number of them are expanding into inland and northern areas such as Chengdu, Qingdao, Shenyang, and Tianjin. For instance, Surbana [盛邦新业– shen bang xin yieh], which is involved in the planning and development of public housing in Singapore, and Keppel Land, are jointly undertaking a large-scale middle income housing project in Chengdu.

Other TLCs with substantial investments in China include CapitaLand [凯德值地], DBS [星展银行], Keppel Corp [吉宝集团], SembCorp Industries [胜科工业], PSA [新加坡国际港务集团] and Singapore Airlines (新加坡航空).

Friendships in China

Through our active engagement in China, we are delighted with the many friendships we have found. On behalf of our chief representative and senior managing director, Ms Cheo Hock Kuan, and our managing director for investments in China, Mr Frank Tang, and their staff, I would like to thank many of you who have helped our team settle in quickly as part of an active and vibrant community.

In particular, we cherish our sense of shared purpose with SASAC (State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council). Both Temasek and SASAC share the same vision and commitment, to achieve long-term shareholder value through corporate excellence and sustainable growth. This gives us a common language for us to exchange our experiences and perspectives in the 2 years since SASAC’s inception.

Most recently in August this year, we jointly organized the inaugural SASAC-Temasek Directors Forum. Over 170 participants from China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and SASAC shared their views and experiences on board-related topics with various Temasek-Linked Companies and their board members. There were many lively dialogues over the 3-week program, and special friendships were forged. We are happy that Temasek and SASAC, together with the TLCs and the SOEs, came away from the forums with new ideas and perspectives on the platform of governance for shareholder interest and long-term success.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Li Rongrong and our friends in SASAC for their help in arranging for tonight’s dinner to be held at Diaoyutai.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we are indeed fortunate to have the sincere support and encouragement of our many friends and partners in China. We feel very welcome to be a part of China’s long-term future.
We are also deeply appreciative of the invaluable guidance and kind support which the Chinese government and her various departments and regulatory bodies have given to us. They have reinforced our confidence and commitment to China.

Like China, we too have crossed many rivers of change and transformation by feeling the stones on the way. We know we have many more rivers to cross in the journey ahead to transform lives and build a future through successful enterprise.

We are committed to adding value to our portfolio companies here. With your support, we will strive to be an active participant in China’s economic growth as we continue to root our presence here.

Once again, thank you for taking time off to be here with us tonight. I wish you all a pleasant evening.  谢谢，晚安！[xie xie, wan an – thank you, good nite]