SINGAPORE -- Enterprise Singapore, the government agency championing enterprise development, said in a media factsheet Tuesday that the Global Innovation Alliance network has been expanded to include Shenzhen, which will be the fourth GIA node in China.

It said that the addition of Shenzhen brings the total GIA network to 15 cities globally and will now enable Enterprise Singapore to support the foray of Singapore innovative startups and small and medium enterprises into China through Shenzhen.

The government agency said it signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Shenzhen Municipal Service Bureau for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in June 2020, to promote cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship activities between Singapore and Shenzhen, as part of the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative.

Under the MOU, the Shenzhen authority will also establish a landing pad in Singapore to run innovation activities in Singapore for Shenzhen-incorporated entities.

According to the media factsheet, GIA was launched in 2017 as part of the Committee of the Future Economy recommendations to strengthen Singapore's connections to major innovation hubs around the world.

The 15 GIA node cities are Shenzhen, Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai in China; Manila in the Philippines; Jakarta in Indonesia; Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; San Francisco in the United States; Berlin and Munich in Germany; Paris in France; London in Britain; Tokyo in Japan; Bangalore in India; and Bangkok in Thailand.