2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore. The two countries have experienced 30 years of ups and downs from the beginning of cooperation, the development of friendship, to carrying forward the past and advancing with the times. On December 8, Han Zheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, held a video meeting in Beijing with Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wang Ruijie, and co-chaired the 16th meeting of the China-Singapore Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation and the No. The twenty-first meeting, the twelfth meeting of the Tianjin Eco-City Joint Coordination Council, and the fourth meeting of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Demonstration Project Joint Coordination Council.

During the meeting, Han Zheng said that 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and China, and bilateral relations have maintained a strong momentum of development. The leaders of the two countries have maintained close communication and provided strategic guidance for the development of bilateral relations. The anti-epidemic and development cooperation between the two sides has shown many new highlights, setting a benchmark for cooperation between countries in the region. China is willing to work with New Zealand to combine the new development situation and requirements of the two countries to jointly plan the direction and focus of the next phase of cooperation, continue to build the Belt and Road with high quality, deepen regional development cooperation, enhance the level of innovation cooperation between China and New Zealand, and jointly safeguard multilateralism. Doctrine and free trade create a new situation of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

Wang Ruijie said that Singapore attaches great importance to strategic communication with China and is willing to maintain close coordination with China, deepen the docking of development strategies, improve cooperation mechanisms, and orderly resume normal personnel exchanges. We are willing to strengthen vaccine cooperation with China to improve our ability to respond to public health emergencies.

Subsequently, Han Zheng and Wang Ruijie co-chaired four bilateral cooperation mechanism meetings. The two sides comprehensively reviewed the implementation of high-level consensus and the progress of pragmatic cooperation, focusing on the full exchange of views on "Belt and Road" cooperation, economic and trade cooperation and innovative development, financial cooperation, public health cooperation, cultural exchanges and sustainable development, and national-level bilateral cooperation projects. Jointly explore new ideas and measures for cooperation. The two parties agreed to focus on promoting connectivity, financial support, tripartite cooperation, and legal and judicial cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation, to tap the potential of the "new land-sea channel", to promote high-quality cooperation in key projects, and to build flagship projects for technological innovation cooperation. Launch the follow-up negotiations on the upgraded version of the China-New Zealand bilateral free trade agreement, promote the implementation of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement as soon as possible, and contribute to the economic recovery and development of the two countries and the region.

After the meeting, Han Zheng and Wang Ruijie attended the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand. Editor/Xu Shengpeng