BEIJING, Dec 30, (Asia Free Press): Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng during a meeting with Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat via video link on Wednesday, pledged to jointly fight the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance bilateral engagements, according to media reports.
Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPCCC), said that as close neighbours and partners, China and Singapore enjoy mutual political understanding and trust and maintain close high-level cooperation in every sort of field, reported Xinhua.
He noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping recently had a phone conversation with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, while providing new strategic guidance for the development of bilateral ties.
In addition, Han further claimed that 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.
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 also for the regional countries.
He also expressed his wish that the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 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.