SINGAPORE: China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will make an official visit to Singapore from Sunday (Nov 10) to Monday for the 20th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting – the apex platform between both countries.
He and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong are co-chairs of the annual bilateral meeting, which reviews the substantive collaboration between Singapore and China and charts the direction of cooperation.
They will also co-chair the 25th Suzhou Industrial Park Joint Steering Council (JSC), the 16th Tianjin Eco-City JSC, and the 8th China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity JSC meetings.
The JCBC will continue to chart the forward-looking cooperation between both sides, Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a press statement on Saturday (Nov 9).
“The JSCs will review the progress made on the three flagship government-to-government projects and discuss ways to further advance their development,” PMO added.
These three projects are the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative.
This will be Mr Ding’s first visit to Singapore as vice premier and JCBC co-chair. Meanwhile, it will be the first time that Mr Gan is co-chairing the bilateral meeting, which is held alternately in Singapore and China.
Twenty-four deals were signed at last year’s JCBC meeting in Tianjin, covering areas such as sustainability, education, trade, food security and healthcare.
Mr Gan will also hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Ding and host a welcome dinner on Sunday, PMO stated.
During his two-day visit, Mr Ding will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The Chinese vice premier will also be hosted to a meal by Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean.
Additionally, Mr Ding and Mr Gan will participate in a tree-planting ceremony at the Singapore Botanic Gardens to mark the 30th anniversary of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park.
