Bilateral ties between China and Singapore are long-standing and broad-based, Teo Chee Hean, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, was quoted to have said after the 13th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) concluded on Monday, Feb. 27.
The highest bilateral forum between the two nations, the JCBC was co-chaired by DPM Teo and Zhang Gaoli, the Chinese Vice Premier.
Held annually since 2004, the JCBC has, over the years, continued to forge strategic partnerships and projects between China and Singapore. In 2016, however, the JCBC didn’t push through due to the heightened tensions regarding the South China Sea dispute.
DPM Teo reiterated after the 13th JCBC meeting that China-Singapore bilateral ties are strong and forward-looking, best characterized by the sizable delegation Singapore sent to the meeting. The group included 11 ministers and political office holders, as well as prominent and young ministers.
“It’s a delegation which is a large one but it means that it covers a wide range of areas that we’re engaged in,” DPM Teo said, according to Channel News Asia.
“It is also a delegation which has quite a number of younger ministers in it. But it shows that forward-looking nature of the relationship that we’re building with China, in that we’ve brought younger ministers along so that they can continue the relationship that was built up by our senior leaders, Mr. Deng Xiaoping and Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.”
Post-meeting, the Singapore Prime Minister’s Office issued an official media statement. It announced that DPM Teo and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang agreed that the “Belt and Road” project is the prime focus of bilateral cooperation between the two sides.
Partnerships have also been explored at the JCBC meeting, particularly between Chinese and Singaporean companies. The two parties also looked to enhance multilateral cooperation through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.