DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam's visit to Beijing, The People's Republic of China (Mar 2019)

Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, met with Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Sun Chunlan on 25 March 2019. Both sides affirmed the excellent and substantive bilateral relations between Singapore and China. The two leaders welcomed the good progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly the three Government-to-Government projects (i.e. the Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City and Chongqing Connectivity Initiative), the recently upgraded Guangzhou Knowledge City, and the four platforms of cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. Both sides reaffirmed the consensus reached between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang during the latter’s Official Visit to Singapore in November 2018 to embark on collaboration in twinning smart cities, cancer therapy research and an MOU on reciprocal internships.

The two leaders exchanged views on our respective programmes in lifelong learning and skills development, and on healthcare reforms, including preventive and community healthcare and cost management. They agreed to enhance exchanges and cooperation in these areas under the existing framework of bilateral exchanges and cooperation in social governance.

Deputy Prime Minister also had productive meetings with People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Chairman Guo Shuqing, and China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Yi Huiman. The leaders reaffirmed the direction of financial cooperation between Singapore and China, which has expanded significantly in recent years, starting with RMB cooperation, supporting financial connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative, and expanding into capital markets development and FinTech. This has been underpinned by strengthening ties in regulatory cooperation. Looking ahead, both sides agreed that Singapore can play a useful role in the next phase of China’s financial market development, including RMB and capital markets internationalisation. Both sides will continue to engage in active discussions to advance initiatives across the key pillars of financial cooperation.

Deputy Prime Minister also met with the heads of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and the Silk Road Fund, to discuss further collaboration in infrastructure financing and development in third countries, including under the Belt and Road Initiative.

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PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
SINGAPORE
25 MARCH 2019