DPM Gan to co-chair bilateral meetings with China during Dec 15 visit

[SINGAPORE] Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong will visit China on Monday (Dec 15) to lead a series of high-level meetings on bilateral cooperation with his counterpart, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang.

Gan, who is also minister for trade and industry, is making the official visit to Chongqing at Ding’s invitation, said Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement on Friday.

The two leaders will co-chair the 21st Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the “apex bilateral platform” between Singapore and China that is convened annually to review the countries’ “substantive collaboration”.

Singapore and China take turns to host the JCBC meetings every year. The 2025 edition marks the second year that DPM Gan and Ding will head the discussions.

DPM Gan took over the role as JCBC co-chair from Lawrence Wong in 2024, after Wong became prime minister in May that year.

DPM Gan and Ding will also convene the 26th Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) Joint Steering Council (JSC), the 17th Tianjin Eco-City JSC, and the 9th Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI) JSC on Monday.

“The JSCs review the progress made on the three flagship government-to-government projects and discuss ways to further their development,” PMO said.

DPM Gan is also slated to have a bilateral meeting with Ding during his stay in Chongqing.

As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the CCI, the pair will visit the sites of the projects driven under the initiative, and take part in commemorative activities.

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The CCI is credited with strengthening connectivity between Singapore and China in areas such as financial and digital services, as well as facilitating broader cooperation between western China and the broader region.

DPM Gan is also expected to meet Yuan Jiajun, secretary of the Communist Party of China Chongqing Municipal Committee.

Longstanding exchanges

The SIP, Singapore and China’s first government-to-government project, in 2024 recorded year-on-year gross domestic product growth of 7 per cent, above the national average.

It is a key gateway for companies on both sides to internationalise, and a way to strengthen links between the countries’ innovation ecosystems.

Tianjin Eco-City, which houses nearly 200,000 people and more than 30,000 companies, provides a replicable model of sustainable urban development for other cities.

It reported GDP growth exceeding 11 per cent in the first half of 2025, and Singapore is planning to strengthen its economic partnership with Tianjin.

For this trip, DPM Gan will be accompanied by eight political office-holders, including Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan; Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo; Minister for Education Desmond Lee; and Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng.

The other office-holders in the delegation are Senior Ministers of State Zaqy Mohamad, Tan Kiat How, Low Yen Ling and Sun Xueling.