China, Singapore reach consensus on upgrading bilateral ties

SINGAPORE, Oct. 22 -- China and Singapore on Tuesday reached extensive consensus on upgrading bilateral ties and deepening their cooperation on two flagship projects.

At the 10th China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting, co-chaired by visiting Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, the two countries highlighted four areas for future cooperation, namely economic transformation, financial services, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and inclusive and sustainable growth.

"The participants in the meeting highlighted these areas for our cooperation to stay visionary and exemplary," a representative from the Chinese delegation told reporters.

The Chinese vice premier said that the frequent meetings between Chinese and Singaporean leaders over the past year set out the directions for efforts to be made.

He urged the officials to discuss in detail how the two countries can achieve "an upgraded version" of the bilateral cooperation.

In economic transformation, the Chinese side said at the meeting that they are keen to work with the Singapore side on the liberalization and facilitation of trade, investment and services.

The Chinese delegation also said that they encourage efforts to facilitate Singapore's participation in its regional development. The two sides will also offer support for the Suzhou Industrial Park to export its development experience or invest in other provinces or even third countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN).

The Suzhou Industrial Park is a successful flagship bilateral cooperation project launched in the 1990s to spur China's industrialization.

The two sides agreed to boost their cooperation in the financial sector, too, with measures to expand the channel for the flow of Renminbi capital between China and Singapore. They also agreed to launch direct foreign exchange trade between the yuan and the Singapore dollar in the interbank market.

The Suzhou Industrial Park and the Tianjin Eco-city, another flagship bilateral cooperation project, will be encouraged to play a bigger role in pilot cross-border Renminbi operations. Efforts will also be made to boost the cooperation in international financial regulation and regulation of the derivatives markets.

The two countries also agreed to boost the cooperation in education and human resources, and push for the establishment of a China-Singapore cooperation research center. The think tank organizations will also be encouraged to boost their exchanges and dialogues.

They also agreed to boost their cooperation in the pursuit of inclusive and sustainable growth, in areas such as environmental protection, low-carbon growth and green building. The two sides also agreed to make efforts to establish cooperation mechanisms in food safety.

At a separate meeting, Zhang said the Suzhou Industrial Park has yielded fruitful results during the nearly 20 years, with valuable experiences gained in building industrial parks. As China 's economic reform is deepening, the Suzhou Industrial Park should change its development mode via mechanism innovation, with an aim to realize better quality and efficiency of its growth.

Financial services, social management and technological innovation are the main areas China and Singapore need to further cooperate in the future development of the Suzhou Industrial Park, he said.

On the same day, Zhang also co-chaired the 6th Tianjin Eco-city Joint Steering Council meeting. The two countries adopted a report on the five-year vision of the Tianjin Eco-city, a flagship government-to-government cooperation project spearheading sustainable development.

The vision is for the Tianjin Eco-city to be a green city that is resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly, a growth model that can be replicated to help China in its pursuit of urbanization and sustainable development.