Speaking at a forum in Suzhou on Monday, Lee said that it would be “shortsighted and unwise” to dismiss the world’s second-largest economy, The Straits Times reported.
China has shown that it can take a strategic perspective, maintaining consistent policies over the long term to ride through transient ups and downs, and Singapore is committed to deepening cooperation with China, including through the Suzhou Industrial Park, he added.
Zhou Shixin, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that Lee’s visit aims not only to strengthen the stability and resilience of China-Singapore relations, but also to lay the foundation for more robust bilateral ties and enhance the ability and confidence of regional countries to deal with multiple crises in the future.
China has been Singapore’s largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years, with bilateral trade volume reaching $108.39 billion last year. In addition, Singapore is the first country in Asia to sign a bilateral free trade agreement with China.
The Suzhou Industrial Park cooperation model demonstrates that the partnership between China and Singapore has extended throughout their economic and industrial structures, Zhou said.
He added that it provides both countries with a stronger sense of shared development and greater confidence in the future.
Zhou said bilateral cooperation can be further strengthened in areas such as digital trade, e-commerce, biotechnology and smart cities.
During the talks, Xi and Lee also expressed the commitment to upholding multilateralism and solidarity to jointly deal with challenges. They also exchanged views on issues of common concern, including China-United States ties.
Noting that Lee’s trip to China comes after a visit to the US, Zhou said this shows that in the face of increasing uncertainty and instability, Singapore seeks to strengthen its strategic interactions with both Beijing and Washington in order to find a foreign strategy better suited to its future development.
As Singapore is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the country also represents the common aspirations of ASEAN, which hopes to cooperate with its partners, including China, to address potential disruptions to regional industrial and supply chains, Zhou said. ZHOU JIN, MDT/China Daily
