Chinese vice premier holds talks with Singaporean deputy PM

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. [Photo by Yao Dawei/Xinhua]

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing on Tuesday.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China and Singapore are friendly neighbors and important cooperative partners to each other.

Standing at a new historical starting point, China is ready to work with Singapore to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, open a new chapter of high-quality cooperation and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples, Ding added.

He also said that the two sides should continue to make good use of the important platform of China-Singapore bilateral cooperation mechanism, strengthen policy communication, coordinate resources of all parties and deepen practical cooperation in various fields.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, upgrade key cooperation projects such as the Tianjin Eco-City, Suzhou Industrial Park, China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity and Guangzhou Knowledge City, Ding said, adding that the two countries should continue to carry out cooperation in economy, trade, investment and finance, expand cooperation in new areas such as the digital economy and utilization of ocean energy, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in the fields such as health, education, culture and tourism.

Ding emphasized that maintaining regional prosperity and stability is the common pursuit of the two countries, and China is willing to work with Singapore to resist politicization of economic issues, maintain the stability and smoothness of global industrial and supply chains, promote the high-level implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and actively promote the building of version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

Wong said that the two sides enjoy solid foundation of friendly cooperation and strong bilateral relations, adding that Singapore adheres to the one-China policy, firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative, and stands ready to work with China to make good use of the bilateral cooperation mechanism.

He also said Singapore is willing to expand practical cooperation with China in various fields, strengthen strategic alignment, deepen people-to-people exchanges, implement the all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership and push bilateral relations to a new level. 

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. [Photo by Yao Dawei/Xinhua]