Singapore, China agree to restore flights, people exchanges to pre-pandemic levels
Sharanya Pillai
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese president Xi Jinping have agreed to work towards restoring flight connectivity and people-to-people exchanges between Singapore and China back to pre-pandemic levels.
This was one of several points both leaders discussed as they met on Friday (Mar 31), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement.
PM Lee is on an official visit to China, his first to the country in four years.
Meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, PM Lee and Xi agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to be all-rounded, of high quality and future-oriented.
“The upgraded partnership reflects both sides’ commitment to continually expand bilateral cooperation, and pursue new collaboration in forward-looking areas such as digital and green economies,” MFA said.
Congratulating Xi on his reappointment as president, PM Lee welcomed China’s reform and modernisation efforts, as well as its growing engagement of Asean.
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He highlighted Singapore’s readiness to strengthen economic ties with China, MFA said.
Both leaders further acknowledged the importance of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation as an annual apex platform for bilateral cooperation that will continue to be held at the same level and frequency.
As part of the visit, PM Lee also met Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, with whom he discussed legal and judicial bilateral cooperation, as well as closer exchanges between both parliaments.
“PM Lee looked forward to the resumption of more high-level exchanges between Singapore and China, by leveraging institutional bilateral mechanisms such as the Singapore-China Forum on Leadership and the Singapore-China Social Governance Forum,” MFA said.
He also met Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. PM Lee noted that 2023 is the 15th anniversary of the Tianjin Eco-City – a collaboration between the Singapore and Chinese governments – and that both countries were working towards an expanded scope of collaboration.
Yin Li, secretary of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee, hosted PM Lee for lunch. They welcomed closer engagements in science and technology, as well as trade.
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