SINGAPORE universities and companies looking overseas to test their games, online videos and other new media can soon look North to China.

A deal was inked on Monday morning between the two comedia applications.

The agreement will also make it easier to jointly market so-called interactive and digital media (IDM) products, to boost their development in both countries.

Mr Chan Yeng Kit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, signed the memorandum of understanding with China's Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Cao Jianlin.

The first project under this agreement is underway between the Media Development Authority and China's Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.

This will enable new applications baked fresh out of a research or development lab to be quickly tested by end users in both Shanghai and Singapore.

Mr York Li, chairman of the Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Broadband Technologies and Applications, said companies can head to markets like the United States more easily, if their technologies are already proven in Asia.

Language is not a problem as many of the projects will involve visual elements, he told reporters at the signing.