On September 20, 2017, President Xi Jinping met at the Great Hall of the People with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, who was in China for an official visit.

Xi Jinping pointed out that maintaining high-level contact is not only a fine tradition established by the older generation of leaders of China and Singapore, but also a demonstration of close relations between the two countries. It is believed that Mr. Prime Minister’s visit this time will deepen China-Singapore traditional friendship and propel bilateral cooperation in various fields for greater development.

Xi Jinping addressed that deepening bilateral political mutual trust and constantly consolidating and developing bilateral relations not only conform to the interests of the two countries and their peoples, but also contribute to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity. Both sides should uphold mutual understanding and respect, and support each other on issues concerning respective core interests and major concerns. China and Singapore hold similar positions and views and share broad common interests in economic globalization, trade liberalization and investment facilitation. Both sides should strengthen the synergy of development strategies and give full play to the role of the China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation to continuously explore and innovate, enrich cooperation connotation and deepen overall cooperation. The two sides should enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges and do more things to promote people-to-people bonds, so as to better inherit and carry forward the traditional friendship of China and Singapore. The building of the Belt and Road Initiative is the priority of bilateral cooperation. It is hoped that the two sides could well construct the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity and promote other countries to jointly participate in the construction of a new international continental and maritime trade route at the regional level.

Lee Hsien Loong expressed that he fully agrees with President Xi Jinping’s evaluation on Singapore-China relations. Sticking to the one-China policy and opposing Taiwan independence, Singapore hopes to see a stable and prosperous China, who can play a greater role in international affairs. At present, the international and regional situation changes rapidly, and Singapore hopes to work more closely with China in the fields of infrastructure construction, interconnectivity and human resources, and enhance alignment of development strategies to benefit the people of the two countries. Singapore supports the joint building of the Belt and Road Initiative and the establishment of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to boost regional and global common development. Singapore is willing to actively promote the continuous deepening of China-ASEAN cooperation and relations.

Leaders of the two countries also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

State Councilor Yang Jiechi and others attended the meeting.