Chinese premier, Singaporean president vow to advance bilateral ties, cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam pledged here on Tuesday to push for new achievements in bilateral relations and cooperation while they met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024.

In their meeting, Li recalled that last year, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, bilateral ties were upgraded to an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership, opening a new chapter in the high-level development of China-Singapore relations.

The Chinese side, Li said, is ready to work with Singapore to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, maintain high-level strategic mutual trust, expand all-round mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance experience-sharing in various fields to push for new achievements in bilateral relations and cooperation.

Li also pointed out that China is willing to join hands with Singapore to give full play to the effectiveness of upgrading the bilateral free trade agreement, promote the upgrading of bilateral cooperation, and create new cooperation achievements in trade and investment, connectivity, finance, and other fields.

Noting that Singapore-China relations have been elevated to a new stage, Shanmugaratnam said his country attaches great importance to bilateral relations, and is ready to deepen dialogue and communication with China in various fields, as well as strengthen cooperation in such sectors as finance, digital economy, and green transformation, so as to push for the continuous development of bilateral ties.

Li elaborated on China's principled position on the Taiwan question.

In this regard, Shanmugaratnam said that Singapore sticks to the one-China principle and firmly opposes any remarks or acts for "Taiwan independence," adding that Singapore's position on the Taiwan question remains unchanged.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)