DPM Heng Swee Keat (centre, left) meeting China's Vice-President Han Zheng in Beijing on March 26. - ST/ANN
BEIJING: Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat met China’s Vice-President Han Zheng in Beijing on March 26, as they reflected on the momentum of bilateral projects in the 35th year since diplomatic ties were established.
Other than the 35th anniversary, Heng noted that 2025 also marks the tenth anniversary of the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative, the youngest of three government-to-government projects, which is named after the municipality in south-western China.
“We also commemorated Tianjin’s (Eco-City) 15 years the year before, and last year, the Suzhou (Industrial Park’s) 30th anniversary,” said Heng at the start of their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
Han remarked that the cooperation between the two countries “can be said to be forward looking”.
“We have achieved some tangible results for our bilateral relations and have made due contributions to the development of our region and the world,” he said.
Han reported that the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, which was launched in 2017 to promote the development of China’s inland regional economies, has done “very well”.
The corridor is used to move goods using a combination of land, air, rail and sea passageways, through Chongqing to Guangxi’s ports and onward to Singapore, and vice versa. It comes under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to link China with the rest of the world.
The two leaders, no strangers to each other, had previously met during Heng’s last official visit to China in April 2024.
As counterparts, both had helmed four editions of the annual Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting, from 2019 to 2022, including two held online due to the pandemic. The JCBC is the top-level meeting for bilateral cooperation, and is typically headed by the first-ranked deputy prime ministers.
At their latest meeting, the two leaders exchanged words of appreciation.
“You have contributed significantly to the deepening of the relationship between China and Singapore,” said Heng, calling Han “an old friend”.
Similarly, Han said to Heng: “Every time I have discussions with you, you speak from the bottom of your heart about some ideas and suggestions to promote bilateral relations.”
Other officials who attended the meeting include China’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying and Singapore’s Ambassador to China Peter Tan.
DPM Heng is on a four-day working visit to China that started on March 24.
On March 25, he met Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao, visited Peking Union Medical College Hospital and sat in a self-driving car at Baidu’s Apollo Park, where he met the tech giant’s chief executive Robin Li. Baidu is among the major players vying to scale up commercial self-driving taxis, or robotaxis, in China. - The Straits Times/ANN
