Prime Minister Lawrence Wong meets Premier Li Qiang to mark 35 years of diplomatic relations and chart the path for future cooperation.
Beijing, On 23 June 2025, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong met Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, reaffirming the longstanding friendship and growing cooperation between Singapore and China. The meeting marked the 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. They commended the significant progress in bilateral cooperation over the past 35 years, underscored by the three Government-to-Government projects in Suzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing.
During their discussions, both leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to further deepen the All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership between Singapore and China in areas such as the green and digital economies and financial services. They also agreed to jointly develop a Singapore-China Third Country Training Programme focussed on government officials from ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste, to support regional capacity building.
Premier Li updated Prime Minister Wong on China’s ongoing economic reforms and its focus on high-quality development. Prime Minister Wong expressed confidence in China’s long-term economic development and emphasised the importance of continued mutual understanding and strengthening exchanges between government officials, as well as enhancing party-to-party engagements.
Both sides welcomed growing momentum in the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and looked forward to signing the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade later this year.
After the meeting, Prime Minister Wong and Premier Li witnessed the signing of the following deliverables:
a. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Law of the Republic of Singapore and the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China on Legal Talent Development
b. Letter of Intent (LOI) to Jointly Explore Establishing a Senior Officials Exchange Programme between Singapore and China
c. LOI to Develop a Third Country Training Programme between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore and the China International Development Cooperation Agency of the People’s Republic of China
d. Data Exchange Agreement between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the National Intellectual Property Administration of the People’s Republic of China
Prime Minister Wong and Premier Li also acknowledged the introduction of the China-Singapore over-the-counter (OTC) bond market initiative. This arrangement allows designated banks in Singapore to provide trading and custody services for onshore RMB bonds, thereby improving international investors’ access to China’s bond market via Singapore.
Source: MFA
