Singapore hopes to take relations with China ‘to the next level’: PM Lee

GUANGZHOU — Singapore wants to take its relations with China to the “next level”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday (March 29) morning, during the third day of his first official trip to China in four years.

Mr Lee’s comments were made during a meeting with Guangdong Party Secretary Huang Kunming, the first for both leaders, in Guangzhou, the capital of the coastal southeast province of Guangdong.

Mr Huang, 66, who was hosting Mr Lee for lunch, is a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was appointed to the top position in Guangdong in October last year.

He was previously CCP's propaganda chief and had spent most of his political career in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, where he worked under Mr Xi Jinping before Mr Xi became the country's president in 2013.

During his meeting with Mr Huang, Mr Lee described Singapore’s relations with China as “very good” overall.

“We would like — now that China has completed its 20th Party Congress, Lianghui (Two Sessions), and is pushing forward with new policies for the next phase — to take our relations up to the next level.”

Mr Lee did not elaborate.

Earlier in the meeting, Mr Huang hailed the bilateral co-operation between China and Singapore.

He added that based on the “important consensus” between President Xi and Mr Lee, Guangdong will further its co-operation with Singapore.

Among the areas that the province hopes to learn from Singapore, Mr Huang said, are urban planning, economic development, shipping, financial services and manufacturing.

A statement on Wednesday evening by the Prime Minister's Office said that both Mr Lee and Mr Huang "reaffirmed the close and multi-faceted ties between Singapore and Guangdong".

These ties are anchored by the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council, as well as projects such as the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and the Singapore-China Smart City Initiative, "which have spurred innovation-led growth", it said.

The office added that both leaders also agreed that there was potential for both sides to "deepen cooperation", including in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. 

Mr Lee arrived in Guangzhou on Monday afternoon and was greeted by Chinese officials, including Guangdong's Vice-Governor Zhang Xin and Ms Sun Haiyan, China's Ambassador to Singapore.

This is Mr Lee's first trip to the city in nearly a decade. He last visited China in April 2019 when he attended the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

Aside from his wife Ho Ching, several ministers are also accompanying Mr Lee on his trip, which will conclude on Saturday.

They are: Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan; Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong; Health Minister Ong Ye Kung; Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development; and Ms Rahayu Mahzam, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Law.

On Monday, Mr Lee visited the autonomous driving technology company WeRide, headquartered at the Biotech Island of Guangzhou, before ending the day at a reception with Singaporeans based in Guangzhou.

He then visited the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, over an hour’s drive north-east from Guangzhou, on Tuesday.

He also visited the Guangzhou SingChin Academy in the city, which is affiliated to Singapore's Hwa Chong family of schools, followed by a lunch with Singaporean corporate leaders based in Guangdong.

Mr Lee officially ended his second day touring the Yongqing Fang historical area in Guangzhou city.

He told Mr Huang on Wednesday that these visits have given him a “good sense of the developments” in Guangdong, and how it is moving forward after the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, Mr Lee will be giving a speech at the Bo’ao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan.

On Friday and Saturday, he is scheduled to meet with Mr Xi, National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji and Premier Li Qiang.

Mr Lee said on Wednesday that he is looking forward to "having substantial outcomes" from the discussions with the Chinese leaders.