SINGAPORE: Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Wednesday (Nov 8), in his first official visit in his current capacity to Singapore.
He was also hosted to lunch by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and met Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat.
During Han’s meeting with President Tharman, the two leaders welcomed the close and longstanding relations between Singapore and China.
“President Tharman and Vice-President Han also discussed the importance of international cooperation to resolve global challenges, as well as investing in people and institutions,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
At the meeting between Lee and Han, both reaffirmed Singapore and China’s strong bilateral relations, which were upgraded to an “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership” in April.
MFA also said they reaffirmed the importance of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) as the apex bilateral platform for cooperation, and looked forward to fruitful discussions at the 19th JCBC, which will be held later this year in China.
“There has been good progress made in Singapore-China collaboration, including in our three Government-to-Government projects, of which the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City commemorates its 15th anniversary this year,” said MFA.
Additionally, Lee and Han also exchanged views on global and regional developments, including China-US relations.
During Han’s meeting with DPM Heng, they discussed how Singapore and China could build on the strong foundation of cooperation and people-to-people ties to strengthen cooperation and to benefit both countries and the wider region, MFA said.
On Tuesday, Han also met Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, and exchanged views on global and regional developments, and ways to further bilateral cooperation.
As part of his two-day visit here, Han on Wednesday spoke at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, and told the audience that China is ready to strengthen communication and dialogue with the United States at all levels. - The Straits Times/ANN
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