Following the recent Lunar New Year holiday, Singapore welcomed a significant number of Chinese tourists. According to Singaporean media reports, the number of inbound Chinese tourists increased by approximately 20% year-on-year.

Data recently released by the Singapore Tourism Board shows that in 2025, China remained the top source of visitors to Singapore with 3.1 million arrivals, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and India.

Although the number of Chinese visitors remains high, the growth rate compared to 2024 was only 1%. The Singapore tourism market is already quite mature, making substantial percentage growth in visitor numbers challenging. For the future, the Singapore Tourism Board has formulated plans to further attract Chinese tourists. In 2025, Singapore introduced its "Tourism 2040" vision, which includes a focus on the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry.

The Executive Director of the Singapore Tourism Board's Exhibitions & Conventions Unit stated that MICE visitors spend on average twice as much as leisure tourists in Singapore, representing higher economic value, which is why the Board prioritizes the development of this sector.

**Sino-Singapore Cooperation**

During the Spring Festival evenings this year, a 20-meter-tall lantern of the God of Wealth, holding a Ruyi scepter in one hand and a cabbage in the other, stood smiling in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay. Behind this display lies over two decades of close collaboration between lantern artisans from Zigong, Sichuan, China, and Singaporean designers.

Starting from the day before Lunar New Year's Eve, many Chinese tourists began sharing images of this deity on social media. Lantern displays, performances, fireworks, and culinary delights converged to form Singapore's "River Hongbao" Spring Festival celebration. Beyond leisure tourism cooperation, Singapore also emphasizes using tourism to foster trade and economic development.

Amid the wave of Chinese companies expanding overseas, many are choosing Southeast Asia due to its geographical proximity and smaller cultural differences. This trend presents new opportunities for Singapore. As a regional hub for shipping, trade, and finance, Chinese enterprises leverage this convenience by choosing Singapore to host conferences and exhibitions to amplify their international influence. This has positioned China as a core source market for the development of Singapore's MICE business.

The Executive Director noted that the ongoing trend of Chinese companies expanding internationally is evident. As a major hub in the Asia-Pacific region, the Singapore Tourism Board alone supports nearly 100 exhibitions annually in Singapore. Through these events, Chinese companies can connect and communicate with businesses across Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific, facilitating their global expansion.

Despite Singapore's land area being just over 700 square kilometers, it already boasts six professional convention and exhibition venues, including the Singapore Expo. Furthermore, to further develop its MICE industry, Singapore plans to construct a new, large-scale exhibition center in its prime downtown area, which will further solidify Singapore's strength and status in the regional MICE sector.

During a recent forum, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Singapore Tourism Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding on deepening cooperation in the exhibition industry. The Executive Director stated that following the signing, this will further encourage industries where China holds advantages—such as precision manufacturing, artificial intelligence, healthcare, smart vehicles, and digital technology—to participate in exhibitions in Singapore, thereby deepening bilateral cooperation in the MICE field.

**Optimism Towards the Chinese Market**

When discussing directions for MICE cooperation, the Executive Director specifically highlighted green agriculture. He explained that Singapore has noted China's accumulation of advanced practical experience in cultivation techniques and sustainable agricultural development. Although Singapore has limited land resources, it is continuously exploring agricultural development models suited to its context, such as using technology to transform traditional farming methods and increase land utilization efficiency.

On January 7 this year, Singapore launched the world's tallest indoor vertical farm, with an estimated annual output of 2,000 tons. The project aims to advance Singapore's self-sufficiency in food production and is expected to enable vegetable exports to neighboring Malaysia within the year. Singapore hopes to deepen exchanges with Chinese agricultural enterprises and institutions in areas like new agricultural operation methods to explore more cooperative opportunities.

Singapore's MICE industry began in the 1970s, relatively late by some standards. However, recognizing its potential, the Singapore government established the Exhibitions & Conventions Unit under the Singapore Tourism Board in 1974 and subsequently introduced multiple measures to efficiently integrate various MICE resources through market-oriented approaches, providing systematic support for the industry.

The Executive Director mentioned that according to relevant forecasts, the business travel market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to achieve significant growth of 1.5 to 2 times over the next decade. Leveraging its mature MICE facilities, international standard of services, and unique geographical location, Singapore aims to triple the scale of its MICE industry within 15 years.

The Executive Director stated that within the Asia-Pacific market, the maturity of Chinese companies in participating overseas exhibitions is notably higher than that of many other Asian countries. Singapore faces different market environments across countries and therefore adopts differentiated strategies. Compared to other Asia-Pacific nations, Chinese companies demonstrate stronger long-term potential for international development. Supported by a vast and dynamic domestic market, Chinese companies have honed strong innovation capabilities and a willingness for global expansion through healthy competition, which aligns well with Singapore's focus on MICE and economic cooperation.

In summary, the momentum of Chinese companies' internationalization and Singapore's platform advantages are highly complementary, offering broad cooperation space and numerous opportunities. Consequently, the core focus for the future development of Singapore's MICE industry will remain on the Chinese market, working jointly to elevate bilateral cooperation in MICE and related fields to a higher level.