After upgrading the bilateral relationship between Singapore and China, the two countries will take the next step forward with agreements signed on several areas of cooperation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday (Apr 1) as he wrapped up his official visit to China.
Beijing sees “the black clouds” in the global environment. At the same time, it wants “friends” and would like to have stability and cooperation with other Asian countries including Singapore, Lee told Singapore reporters.
“So I think that is an environment in which we can continue to work on our relationship with them and to go into new areas, whether it is digital, whether it is the green economy, whether it is additional financial services, including financial market, renminbi, whether you are talking about food security.
“All areas where there is potential for growth and also the need for us to maintain linkages at the time when international linkages cannot be taken for granted,” the Prime Minister said.
In an interview to round up his six-day visit – his first to China in nearly four years – Lee said the cooperation with China needs to be kept relevant as economies progress and interests shift.
Citing the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park – the first government-to-government project between the two countries that was launched in 1994 -the Singapore Prime Minister noted that it has evolved from a model for developing a township to attracting high-tech activities now.
“So similarly, our cooperation with China needs to keep up to date to keep relevant,” he said.
“We have an FTA, we’ve upgraded it. Now we have subsequent negotiations on the FTA to widen its scope to enhance the favourable terms which it offers to extend to us some of the privileges which are in other FTAs, which China has concluded since a Singapore-China FTA was done.
“And therefore, it will mean more opportunities for our business people and more competitiveness for them. And I hope also it will mean more opportunities for Chinese companies to come to Singapore and do business in Singapore.”
Good relations have to be worked on, “You have to keep on making it better and better. We are never satisfied,” he added.
Singapore and China signed seven Memorandums of Understanding during his visit, ranging from food security, the arts to water and environmental research.
Lee met President Xi Jinping on Friday, with both leaders agreeing to elevate bilateral relations to an “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership”.
