Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, in an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG), reaffirmed Singapore's commitment to deepening its partnership with China ahead of his first official visit since taking office.

The visit comes as the two nations celebrate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties, with a shared goal of advancing an "all-round, high-quality, future-oriented" relationship.

Wong identified three key objectives for the visit – strengthening ties with Chinese leaders, reaffirming the commitment to bilateral cooperation, and discussing regional and global challenges in an increasingly uncertain world.

The Prime Minister emphasized that bilateral cooperation continues to evolve beyond traditional infrastructure projects. Flagship initiatives such as the Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Eco-City have matured into platforms for broader innovation, including sustainability, green development and digital transformation. Singapore is also exploring new areas (of collaboration), such as low-carbon energy and biomedical sciences, he told CMG.

Wong praised China's development trajectory as "nothing short of an economic miracle," citing its urban transformation and the resilience of its people as sources of inspiration for his own governance approach. He expressed strong confidence in China's continued success, calling Chinese leaders at all levels highly competent, pragmatic, and committed to continuous improvement.

Addressing rising global uncertainty, Wong offered a candid assessment of the retreat from multilateralism. He criticized the rise of protectionism, particularly the imposition of punitive tariffs by the United States.

Wong stressed that widespread tariffs are not a sustainable solution. While noting that such measures reflect a rising sentiment in the United States that it bears disproportionate costs in maintaining the global order, he argued that the U.S. has long been a major beneficiary of the very rules-based global system it helped establish.

He warned that such unilateral moves risk destabilizing global trade and damaging smaller, open economies like Singapore.

"Of course, multilateralism today is not perfect. There are things that can be improved, but our response should not be to abandon the multilateral system. Our response should be to reform, change, improve and make the system work better for the benefit of all countries," Wong said.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed Singapore's intention to work with like-minded nations to strengthen regional frameworks such as ASEAN, RCEP and CPTPP, and expressed full support for China's accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). 

He also welcomed the recent conclusion of the China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 negotiations. "We hope this can be signed at the coming ASEAN-China summit in October, and the new upgrade will come into force soon after that."

Looking ahead to his participation in the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions (Summer Davos) in Tianjin, Wong said he would call for renewed global commitment to cooperation and openness. "Because without rules, without longstanding norms of cooperation, countries everywhere will be worse off," he said.