China, Singapore vow to enhance cooperation

BEIJING - Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Wednesday met with Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat via video link, pledging to jointly fight the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance bilateral cooperation.

Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that as close neighbors and partners, China and Singapore enjoy mutual political understanding and trust and maintain close high-level exchanges.

He noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping recently had a phone conversation with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, providing new strategic guidance for the development of bilateral relations.

China welcomes Singapore's in-depth participation in the process of fostering a new development paradigm, and is willing to work with Singapore to strengthen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, safeguard multilateralism and free trade, strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation, and actively expand cooperation in the fields of digital economy and green development, among others, Han said.

Heng, for his part, said China's entry into the new development stage has brought great opportunities for bilateral cooperation, and the Singaporean side stands ready to deepen all-round cooperation with China and jointly create a better future for the two countries and the region.

He also expressed his wish that the Beijing Winter Olympics will be a great success.

After their meeting, Han and Heng co-chaired four meetings of bilateral cooperation mechanisms: the 17th China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation Meeting, the 22nd China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Joint Steering Council (JSC) Meeting, the 13th China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City JSC Meeting, and the 5th China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity JSC Meeting.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of the high-level consensus and progress in practical cooperation, and jointly planned the direction and priorities of the next stage of cooperation.

The two sides agreed to promote the high-quality development of key cooperation projects under the guidance of building the new development paradigm, and to take the establishment of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership as an opportunity to set a new benchmark for mutually beneficial cooperation.

They also agreed to expand anti-pandemic and development cooperation, so as to make new contributions to global disease control and sustainable development.

After the meeting, they jointly announced a series of outcomes, including the New Land-Sea Corridor cooperation plan, and attended the naming ceremony of a giant panda cub, who was born earlier this year in Singapore.