China, Singapore to advance bilateral, regional relations

In a sign that the all-around cooperative partnership between China and Singapore has progressed with the times, Premier Li Keqiang started a five-day official visit to the Southeast Asian country with a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart on Monday.

His visit, during which he is also scheduled to attend the 33rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings, caps off a year of engagement between both countries, which have enjoyed friendly relations for decades. Although small in size, Singapore has played an indispensable role in China's reform and opening-up, by generously sharing its development experience with Chinese leaders as China transitioned from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. And over the years, Singapore has helped train hundreds of thousands of Chinese officials in public administration and economic management.

Bilateral relations suffered a setback in 2016 due to the flaring of regional tensions over the South China Sea disputes, but the fact that they quickly returned to a normal track, with a visit by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Beijing in September last year, reflects the importance the two countries place on their bilateral relations and their ability to manage their differences.

And despite that blip in relations, China has remained Singapore's largest trade partner, and Singapore, China's largest investor. Singapore is also an ardent supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative, with the country becoming the largest destination for Chinese investment along the Belt and Road routes.

Cooperation under the framework of the initiative has already borne fruits, such as the Chongqing Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity - the third of their government-to-government projects after Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Eco-City - which is helping drive the growth of China's less-developed western region through better transport, financing and data connectivity.

And with protectionism on the rise, China and Singapore have both expressed their resolve to safeguard the global system of free trade. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee on Monday called for more regional integration, saying multilateralism was under threat. And Singaporean media published an article by Li on the same day, in which the Chinese premier called for an "open world economy" in the face of "rising protectionism and unilateralism". The two sides are widely expected to ink an upgraded free trade deal during Li's visit.

As Singapore has assumed the presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, the good relations between the two sides could help accelerate the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, an ASEAN-led free trade pact that will encompass more than one-third of the world's GDP.

All of which indicates Sino-Singaporean relations will continue to flourish.