Singapore and China have signed 25 agreements at their annual apex meeting, boosting cooperation in areas like trade, finance and maritime as they strengthen ties amid a troubled geopolitical climate.
The slew of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and agreements – up from 24 last year and the most in recent years – was unveiled on Monday (Nov 11) at the 20th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting, held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and visiting Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang co-chaired the meeting, which is the highest-level annual forum between China and Singapore.
Held alternately between the two countries, it reviews the substantive collaboration between them and charts the direction of cooperation.
“From our exchanges, it is clear that the upgrade of our relations last year … has given our bilateral agenda a renewed focus, one that is more ambitious and forward-looking,” said Mr Gan.
Singapore and China elevated bilateral ties last year to an “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership”, following a meeting between Singapore’s then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Similarly, Mr Ding acknowledged the bilateral progress made over the years.
“China is willing to work with Singapore to further implement the important consensus reached by our leaders, focusing on comprehensive, high-quality, and forward-looking cooperation,” he said.
“We will continue to explore new connection points and areas of growth, bringing greater benefits to the people of both countries.”
This was the first time Mr Gan – who is also minister for trade and industry – co-chaired the JCBC and related joint steering council meetings for the three Singapore-China government-to-government projects.
These projects are Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative.
CNA
