Chinese VP Wang Qishan visits Singapore

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Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan met Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday.

Wang said China is willing to deepen cooperation with Singapore and open its market wider to foreign investors. He is currently on a three-day visit to the country.

When meeting with Halimah, Wang said the relations between China and Singapore have developed further in recent years, which in turn have benefited both countries.

"China is willing to deepen cooperation with Singapore in various fields including the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.

China will open its doors "wider and wider" to foreign investors, he said.

For her part, Halimah said the bilateral ties have developed smoothly with frequent high-level exchanges, brisk trade and investment, and active people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is aimed at promoting ties with China, ASEAN's largest trading partner, she said.

Singapore will continue to support the multilateral trading regime, which is an effective mechanism to solve trade disputes, she added.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan meets with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore, November 6, 2018. /Photo via Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs

While meeting with Lee, Wang said the China-Singapore relations have remained vibrant and Singapore has been deeply involved in China's reform and opening-up.

The all-round cooperative partnership, established when Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Singapore in 2015, has progressed with the times and has pointed out the direction for the bilateral ties, he noted.

China is willing to deepen mutual understanding, enhance mutual trust and realize win-win cooperation with other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind, Wang said.

Lee said the two countries have long maintained friendly relations and have advanced and expanded cooperation in recent years.

Calling reform and opening up the source of China's strength, Lee said multilateralism represents the future direction and Singapore stands with China in safeguarding multilateralism.

(Top image: Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan meets with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore, November 6, 2018. /Photo via Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency