Li Keqiang Meets with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob

On the morning of February 5, 2022 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Premier Li Keqiang met with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, who came to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Li Keqiang said, Singapore is an important cooperative partner of China in the ASEAN. In the face of the impact of the pandemic and the divergent recovery of the world economy, the relations between the two countries have maintained sound and stable development, and seen boosted cooperation against the overall downward trend, thus playing a positive role in enhancing the well-being of the two peoples and maintaining international and regional peace and stability. President Xi Jinping will meet with Ms. President tomorrow. China attaches great importance to developing relations with Singapore, and is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with Singapore, seek greater synergy between development strategies, work for new outcomes of the "New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor" in fields such as transportation and logistics, mechanism building and international cooperation, and strengthen cooperation in fields such as finance, anti-pandemic, and vocational education and training, so as to bring more benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

Li Keqiang pointed out, China is willing to gradually resume personnel exchanges with Singapore on the basis of proper COVID-19 countermeasures, so as to provide convenience for Singaporean students to return to China to resume classes. I hope that both sides will jointly work for the effective implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and push for a higher level of regional economic integration. China is willing to actively communicate with Singapore on joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), so as to push bilateral cooperation towards a higher level of openness.

Halimah wishes the Chinese people a happy Spring Festival, saying that Beijing is the first city ever to host both the summer and winter editions of the Olympic Games, and the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 is splendid and exceptional. Singapore and China enjoy very robust relations, with frequent high-level interactions and sound economic and trade cooperation. The two sides should seize opportunities to further deepen cooperation in areas such as the "New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor" and expand new areas of cooperation such as digital economy and green development, so as to benefit the two countries and two peoples. Singapore supports China's accession to the DEPA and welcomes China's application to join the CPTPP.