SINGAPORE: Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng met Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Friday (Sep 21), the last day of his three-day official visit.
In his meeting with Mdm Halimah, both sides reaffirmed the longstanding and multi-faceted relations between Singapore and China, underpinned by regular high-level exchanges, robust economic linkages and close people-to-people ties, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a press statement.
They also welcomed the growing cooperation under the Belt and Road initiative, which was discussed extensively at the 14th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting on Thursday.
The JCBC is the highest-level forum between Singapore and China, and it is co-chaired by Mr Han and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
China’s Vice Premier Han Zheng calls on President Halimah Yacob at the Istana on Sep 21, 2018. (Photo: MFA)
READ: China-Singapore trade agreement upgrade to be concluded by year-end
Meanwhile, Mr Han and Mr Lee reaffirmed the good progress made in bilateral cooperation across diverse fields, including the Belt and Road initiative as well as in connectivity and financial cooperation.
“They welcomed the plan to establish a Singapore-Shanghai cooperation council at the minister-mayoral level, as well as supported the proposal to enhance legal and judicial cooperation between our two countries under the Belt and Road initiative,” said MFA.
Mr Han, Mdm Halimah and Mr Lee, in their separate meetings, also said they looked forward to the conclusion of negotiations on an upgrade to the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement by the time Chinese Premier Li Keqiang makes an official visit to Singapore in November.
Mr Li will be here in conjunction with the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.
