Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Beijing, capital of China, March 31, 2023. [Xinhua/Ding Haitao]

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Beijing on Friday.

Hailing China and Singapore as important partners of cooperation, Xi said the bilateral relationship is forward-looking, strategic and demonstrative, and has not only given a strong boost to the development and rejuvenation of the two countries, but also set a benchmark for countries in the region.

He noted that during Lee's visit, the two sides elevated bilateral ties to an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership, charting the course for the future development of bilateral relations.

China is ready to strengthen strategic communication with the Singaporean side, deepen strategic alignment, and make "high quality" the most distinct feature of China-Singapore cooperation, said the Chinese president.

Xi pointed out that of the Southeast Asian countries, Singapore has been the most involved in China's reform and opening-up and its interests are most closely integrated with China. He added that China is ready to share important opportunities with Singapore and other countries that are willing to cooperate with it.

Xi said China is willing to work with Singapore to make good use of the bilateral cooperation mechanism meetings, strengthen the building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, deepen cooperation on digital and green development and third-party cooperation, and properly advance cross-border travel.

Over the years, Asia has maintained a sound momentum of overall peace and stability, rapid development and overall improvement, said Xi. Through hard work and wisdom, countries in the region have embarked on a development path with Asian characteristics featuring independence, mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, he added.

Against the backdrop of accelerating changes in the world unseen in a century, Xi said Asian countries should cherish and maintain the hard-won sound momentum of development in the region, jointly safeguard the peace dividend of the region, maintain the right direction of economic globalization and regional economic integration, and firmly oppose bullying, decoupling or severing the supply and industrial chains.

"No country should be allowed to deprive the people of Asia of their right to pursue a better and happier life," Xi said.

Prime Minister Lee expressed strong confidence in the resilience of the Chinese economy, and said he believes the economy will continue to grow in a sound way.

He said Singapore and other neighboring countries look forward to further deepening economic cooperation with China.

The Singaporean side looks forward to working with the new Chinese government as soon as possible to promote cooperation on major projects such as connectivity, and to take the opportunity of completing the negotiations on upgrading the Singapore-China free trade agreement to send a clear message of China's continued opening-up and Singapore's commitment to further deepening cooperation with China, Lee said.

He pointed out that almost all countries in the world recognize that there is only one China in the world and have developed friendly and cooperative relations with China on the basis of the one-China policy.

The Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and touting "Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow" will lead to unpredictable and serious consequences, he said.

The two sides also exchanged in-depth views on major-country relations and international and regional issues of common concern. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Beijing, capital of China, March 31, 2023. [Xinhua/Ding Haitao]

(Source: Xinhua)