Singapore and China sign seven bilateral agreements
Among them were deals to replicate the government-to-government project, Tianjin Eco-city
Singapore
SINGAPORE and China inked seven deals on bilateral cooperation ranging from the arts, entrepreneurship and intellectual property to research on Thursday, after an annual bilateral meeting co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng.
In all, six Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) and one Strategic Framework Agreement were signed and exchanged on the sidelines of the 14th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting held at the St Regis hotel.
Among them were deals to replicate the government-to-government project, Tianjin Eco-city; exchanges and collaboration between artists and art groups from both sides; the setting up of a National University of Singapore research institute in Chongqing; and cooperation in emerging industries such as advanced manufacturing, biomedicine and nanotechnology applications.
The annual JCBC meeting is the highest-level platform to discuss cooperation between Singapore and China.
This is the first time that Mr Han is attending as co-chair, after his predecessor, former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli, retired last October.
Mr Han is a member of the top decision-making body in China, the Chinese Communist Party's seven-member Politburo Standing Committee.
Both Mr Han and Mr Teo also attended meetings that took stock of the progress of the three existing government-to-government projects: Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-city and Chongqing Connectivity Initiative.
