June 25, 2025
BEIJING – Amid a turbulent and uncertain world, the relationship between Singapore and China is more important than before, visiting Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“We can work together to establish closer ties and also to cooperate in regional and multilateral platforms, to continue to strengthen multilateralism and the rules-based global order for the benefit of all countries,” PM Wong said at the meeting on June 24 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
He is making his first visit to China as prime minister, amid uncertainties sparked by wars and the US imposition of high tariffs on goods from much of the world, which has undermined the post-World War II global order that has allowed for free trade.
Mr Xi said: “In the face of the current chaotic international situation, China is willing to strengthen strategic cooperation with Singapore, tighten the bonds of cooperation, and join hands to address challenges, to bring more benefits to the people of the two countries.”
At the meeting, the two leaders exchanged views on regional and global developments, noting the growing complexity of the international economic landscape, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said later in a statement.
They agreed on the importance of open and inclusive trade as a key driver of growth and stability. Both also reaffirmed their support for a rules-based multilateral trading system, and underscored the need for continued cooperation to strengthen the relevance and effectiveness of global economic institutions, MFA said.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Mr Xi said that the global trend towards peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit is irreversible, and the world must not return to hegemony or the law of the jungle.
“China is willing to work with Singapore to stand on the right side of history, and the side of fairness and justice,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Mr Xi added that China hopes to partner with Singapore “to jointly promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalisation, and to help steer the world towards a brighter future of peace, security, prosperity and progress”.
He urged Singapore to take a strategic, long-term view of its relations with China.
Mr Xi also congratulated PM Wong on the outcome of Singapore’s recent General Election, and updated him on China’s domestic and external priorities.
Both leaders last met in November in Lima, Peru, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
PM Wong, who is on a five-day official visit to China, told Mr Xi that he chose China as the first country to make an introductory visit outside of South-east Asia, and this reflects the close and steadfast partnership between Singapore and China.
Reiterating a point he made when he met Premier Li Qiang the day before, he told Mr Xi that the relationship between Singapore and China is built on a deep level of mutual respect, trust and understanding.
Ties between the two countries go back well before the formal establishment of diplomatic relations 35 years ago, said Mr Wong.
The leaders recognised that the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s landmark 1978 visit to Singapore, along with founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s early support for China’s reform and opening-up, had laid the groundwork for ties between the two sides.
MFA’s statement said: “Both leaders recognised that Singapore and China have been part of each other’s development journey and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and broaden this enduring partnership.”
At the meeting with Mr Xi, PM Wong said: “President Xi is in a unique position, I think, to have engaged and met all the prime ministers of Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, Lee Hsien Loong, and now me.”
According to MFA, both leaders welcomed the positive momentum in bilateral cooperation, including in emerging areas such as the digital and green economies.
They expressed support for deepening official and institutional linkages, as well as continuing to enhance people-to-people ties.
They also discussed cross-strait developments. PM Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent “one China” policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its “sacred” territory, a position that the government in Taipei strongly rejects.
On June 24, PM Wong also met the National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji, who heads China’s Parliament.
He called Mr Zhao an “old friend of Singapore” who has visited the Republic several times, such as when he was the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of north-western Shaanxi province.
When Mr Zhao was the minister of the party’s Central Organisation Department, a powerful unit in charge of training and promoting senior officials, he co-chaired the Singapore-China Leadership Forum with then Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.
The forum had allowed both governments to deepen mutual trust and understanding, PM Wong said.
Singapore will host the 10th edition of the forum in 2025.
Mr Zhao said China is committed to boosting strategic dialogue with Singapore, deepening high quality practical cooperation and expanding high-level people-to-people exchanges.
Over the past two days in Beijing, PM Wong has met the top three leaders in China – Premier Li, President Xi and Mr Zhao.
Among the new officials accompanying PM Wong are Acting Transport Minister and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow, and MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi.
Both men had entered politics in the May 2025 General Election. Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi was appointed in May as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and National Development, and will be sworn in later in 2025.
The delegation also included familiar faces well-known to China.
After PM Wong and President Xi met, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on June 24.
Dr Balakrishnan recalled how he first met Mr Wang 10 years ago, when the latter accompanied Mr Xi to visit Singapore in 2015.
In 2023, Singapore and China upgraded their bilateral relationship to the All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership.
Mr Wang acknowledged that the name is very long. “The name is long because it reflects the tradition and accumulated value of our bilateral relations,” he said.
Other members of PM Wong’s delegation include Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu, and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Sim Ann.
PM Wong will be attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, more commonly known as the Summer Davos. He will take part in a dialogue session with WEF president Borge Brende on June 25.
Yew Lun Tian is a senior foreign correspondent who covers China for The Straits Times.
