Important lessons have been learnt from the acrimony between Singapore and Beijing over Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), their ill-fated US$20 billion joint venture.
Problems may have started from the time the project was conceived five years ago, but the hard learning came this week as Singapore ceded control of the Jiangsu province investment project which was intended as a symbol of Sino-Singapore economic relations.
After two years of futile complaining, the Singaporeans this week formally signed an agreement to wind down their interest in what had been envisaged as a 20-year partnership and a litmus test for future investment.
The first lesson to be drawn from Singapore's decision to swap its controlling stake is that central government-to-central government deals are meaningless in the mainland if they lack the unequivocal support of local authorities charged with implementing them.
As a Chinese saying goes: 'Shan gao huang di yuan - The mountain is high and the emperor is far away.' Second, it is apparent that in the mainland being ethnically Chinese counts for little as a foreign investor.
President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji may have repeatedly given Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong their personal assurances the project would be given special priority status.
But Beijing is a long way from Suzhou and was incapable of wielding influence over the park's day-to-day development.