A flagship joint project between China and Singapore, entitled the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, signed deals on Wednesday valued at 1.5 billion yuan ($222 million) with nine enterprises, increasing its total industrial investment this year to 2.5 billion yuan.

These enterprises, including Hitachi, Philips and ST Engineering, will set up their R&D center, eco-technology show center and regional distribution center in the eco-city.

So far, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city has seen more than 200 enterprises settle down in the eco-community, with a total investment of 21 billion yuan.

"It is expected that by 2020, the eco-city will create 80,000 to 100,000 jobs, generating a total of 40 to 50 billion yuan of GDP," said Cui Guangzhi, vice-chairman of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Administrative Committee.

Meanwhile, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City also signed an MOU with Hitachi, Philips, Siemens, ST Engineering and two leading property developers in Asia to develop an Eco-CBD, the core project for the city’s next development.