Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China welcomes Singapore’s in-depth participation in building the new development paradigm and is committed to making “high quality” a distinct feature of the cooperation between the two countries.
Xi made the remarks when meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
The China-Singapore relationship is forward-looking, strategic, and exemplary, said Xi.
Underscoring China’s readiness to develop close high-level exchanges with Singapore, Xi said the two sides need to ensure sound implementation of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor as a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Singapore, and promote the upgrading of cooperation projects in digitalization, green development, and other areas.
Efforts need to be made to conclude follow-up negotiations on upgrading the China-Singapore FTA at an early date, enhance the level of trade and investment liberalization, and facilitate people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, he said, adding that both China and Singapore rely on this region for development and their development is well-integrated into and beneficial to this region.
China will work with Singapore to uphold solidarity and cooperation in the region, oppose group politics, resist bloc confrontation, keep to the right direction of economic and regional integration, and firmly reject the attempts to push for “decoupling and severing supply chains,” or to build “a small yard with high fences,” said Xi, noting that it is hoped that the two sides will work together to pursue the Global Development Initiative (GDI) in this region.
Noting the strong momentum of Singapore-China cooperation, he stressed that under the complex international situation, Singapore looks forward to further deepening its ties with China, and stands ready to work with China to advance the existing mechanisms of bilateral cooperation and upgrade the three government-to-government projects in Suzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing and the Guangzhou Knowledge City project (3+1).
China’s rise is not stoppable, Lee said, adding that a strong and friendly China will bring positive impact on the region and the world, and can help small and medium-sized countries achieve common development. Singapore sees China’s development as positive, wishes the GDI well and will explore ways to participate, he said.
