The Suzhou Industrial Park’s International Business Cooperation Centre (IBCC) on Wednesday (Feb 21) opened its new office and industrial premises after completing the second phase of its expansion at Singapore’s one-north business park.

The centre – which offers Singapore-China cross-border investment facilitation and market access – began this expansion project in February 2023.

The new premises, located a floor above its first-phase site, are designed to enhance support services such as customised enterprise solutions and shared research and development facilities.

This latest expansion of the IBCC has attracted more companies from China, with the new entrants that include information services platform Qichacha, genetic technology developer Basecare Medical and medical device provider JoyMed Technology.

Randy Lim, the head of JoyMed Singapore, said IBCC helped the company navigate the administrative processes to do business in Singapore.

Singapore holds strategic importance for the Shanghai-based company as the current geopolitical turbulence makes it harder to export directly to the US or Europe, he said.

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IBCC was set up in 2021 by the administrative committee of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) as an incubator to facilitate Chinese investments into Singapore, as well as a springboard for Singapore-based companies and startups venturing into China.

The centre leverages Singapore’s connectivity and a slew of trade agreements that the city-state has with neighbouring countries to play a bridging role in the subsequent expansion of Chinese businesses into other parts of South-east Asia.

As at January this year, the centre has attracted 112 Chinese companies from sectors such as biomedical sciences, electronics and green development.

A visiting delegation from Suzhou led by Party Secretary Liu Xiaotao attended the IBCC event on Wednesday, which was held as part of SIP’s 30th anniversary celebrations this year.

Established in 1994, SIP is the first government-to-government project between Singapore and China. Singapore’s late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew once described the project as a “grand, unprecedented cooperation plan” between the governments of the two countries.

During the event, the guests witnessed the signing of memoranda of understanding for four Singapore companies to launch their setups in SIP.

The four are smart security solution provider Willowmore, wearable sensor developer Microtube, and biotechnology companies Luminicell and Westcom Biotech.

Dr Kevin Koh, founder and chief executive of medical device manufacturer Vivo Surgical, said the friendliness and policy transparency were among the reasons why he decided to establish a subsidiary in SIP in January 2023.

With support and grants from SIP, he said the company is committed to a long-term localisation strategy in China as it remains the biggest market and has a complete ecosystem for medical equipment.