Plan to Commemorate 30th Anniversary of Singapore-China Relations

1 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs what is planned to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Singapore-China relations this year.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Singapore established formal diplomatic relations with China on 3 October 1990. We have a close, vital and multifaceted relationship with China involving our leaders, our corporate sector and at the people-to-people level in many fields including education, science and culture. Consequently, we have many frequent high-level exchanges, institutionalised platforms and substantive cooperation all across China. The Government-to-Government projects at the 1994 China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park; the 2008 Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City; and the 2015 Chongqing Connectivity Initiative are icons of success that reflect Singapore's complementary roles at various phases of China's spectacular development.

We share deep economic relations. China has been Singapore's largest trading partner and Singapore has been China's largest foreign investor since 2013.

Singapore and China are commemorating the 30th anniversary of Singapore-China diplomatic relations this year in the face of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. China has borne the brunt of the impact of the epidemic. The Singapore Government, our business community, as well as our people have come together to offer support to a friend in need by donating funds, some critically needed test kits and medical supplies to support communities in China which have been severely affected by COVID-19. As of 25 February 2020, the Singapore Red Cross has raised more than S$6 million. This is a reflection of concern for our Chinese friends and our solidarity with China and the international community to fight the virus, understand the disease, and prevent its further spread. We are confident that through close cooperation, Singapore, China, and the international community will ultimately overcome this challenge. I have just returned from attending a Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting on COVID-19 in Vientiane, Laos where I also had a bilateral meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He thanked me for Singapore's encouragement and support during this challenging period for China. We reaffirmed the strong, multifaceted and mutually beneficial partnership between Singapore and China and discussed new areas of cooperation, including in enhancing public health.

As part of our commemoration of 30 years of diplomatic ties between Singapore and China, we have planned a number of high-level exchanges this year. President Halimah Yacob has accepted President Xi Jinping's invitation to make a State Visit to China, while Singapore will host the 16th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), our apex institutionalised platform, co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, to advance bilateral cooperation.

The 30th anniversary also coincides with the anniversaries of some of our key projects in China. This includes the 5th anniversary of the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative – our third Government-to-Government project – as well as the 10th anniversary of the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, a state-level bilateral cooperation project. We will expand cooperation in existing and new areas, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and smart city development.

Both sides have also planned activities that will highlight our close cultural ties, such as an exhibition of the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM)'s Tang Shipwreck Collection at the Shanghai Museum, which will showcase the longstanding links between Singapore and China, as well as the region along the maritime silk routes. ACM will also present an exhibition in Singapore titled "Yongle.Wanli – Emperors of the Ming", with the spotlight on China's Ming Dynasty and featuring artifacts loaned from the Palace Museum in Beijing. Such exchanges will further promote mutual understanding and enhance people-to-people ties, and we look forward to many years of close cooperation between Singapore and China.