Xi calls for sound, steady China-Singapore relations in post-pandemic era

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, who came to China for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 6, 2022. [Xinhua/Liu Weibing]

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob in Beijing on Sunday, calling on both sides to deepen the synergy of development strategies and promote the sound and steady development of bilateral relations in the post-pandemic era.

Facing the world's major changes and the pandemic, both unseen in a century, China-Singapore relations need to buck the trend and display vigor and vitality, Xi said.

Xi said Singapore has been deeply involved in China's development since the beginning of the reform and opening-up, and China is fostering a new development paradigm at a faster speed, calling on both sides to leverage their respective complementary strengths to pursue win-win cooperation.

Both countries should deepen cooperation in green development and strengthen cooperation in fields such as digital economy, smart cities and sci-tech innovation. They should foster new growth points of cooperation to inject new momentum into their respective development, Xi said.

China and Singapore should set an example for jointly pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and enhance the role of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in supporting regional industry and supply chains, he added.

Xi said China stands ready to work with Singapore to push for the high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership pact to promote regional integration, and jointly push for the translation of the Global Development Initiative into actions to safeguard equity and justice.

Halimah said she was very honored to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and congratulated China on winning its first gold medal at the Games.

She hailed the solid foundation of Singapore-China ties, saying the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Tianjin Eco-city and the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity represent high-level cooperation of the two countries.

Singapore is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in green development, digital economy and other fields to promote regional integration, she said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, who came to China for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 6, 2022. [Xinhua/Ding Lin]