Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) meets with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in Singapore on Sept 13, 2021. (THEN CHIH WEY / XINHUA)

SINGAPORE — China and Singapore agreed here Monday to enhance cooperation in combating COVID-19 and developing the digital economy.

The pledge was made during a meeting between visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.

China-Singapore relations have advanced with the times, playing a leading role in regional cooperation, Wang said.

China is willing to work together with Singapore to bring into full play the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation in order to push the bilateral cooperation to new heights, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said

China is willing to work together with Singapore to bring into full play the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the highest-level and most influential cooperation mechanism between the two countries, in order to push the bilateral cooperation to new heights, Wang said.

On the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said China was willing to join hands with Singapore to work on medicine research and development and virus research, among others, and to jointly oppose vaccine nationalism, so as to make contribution to the regional anti-pandemic course and the building of a community of common health for mankind.

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The pandemic has triggered a booming digital economy, Wang noted, saying that China was ready to work with Singapore to utilize digital technologies to upgrade the bilateral cooperation projects and mechanisms, and expand the cooperation in areas including green economy, so as to facilitate the economic recovery of both countries and the region.

For his part, Heng said maintaining high-level contacts amid the pandemic era was of great significance in strengthening bilateral cooperation between Singapore and China.

He hoped that a new JCBC meeting will be held to push forward the bilateral cooperation in the post-pandemic era.

Heng praised China for conducting vaccine cooperation and sharing experience in pandemic prevention and control with other countries.

He said Singapore was willing to continue promoting the cooperation with China in the fields of pandemic prevention and control, digital economy, green finance and climate change, among others.  

Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) meets with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan in Singapore, on Sept 13, 2021. (THEN CHIH WEY / XINHUA)

Deepening China-ASEAN ties

China and Singapore also pledged to deepen pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in multiple sectors.

In a separate meeting with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Wang said said the two sides should work together to push forward the joint construction of the Belt and Road with high quality, give full play to the role of the new land-sea route, synergize the new land-sea route with the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism, tap the cooperation potential in the fields including E-commerce business, artificial intelligence, mobile payment and big data so as to add new impetus to the development of bilateral ties.

Singapore would like to make greater efforts to align China's plan for the new land-sea route with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, so as to inject new impetus into the ties between the two countries, said Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan

China is ready to work with ASEAN countries, including Singapore, to make good preparation for the commemorative event to mark the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations between China and ASEAN so as to elevate the China-ASEAN relations to a higher level, Wang said.

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He said the two sides should also work together to push for the early entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

For his part, Balakrishnan said Singapore would like to make greater efforts to align China's plan for the new land-sea route with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, so as to inject new impetus into the ties between the two countries.

As China-ASEAN relations bear a fundamental, comprehensive and strategic significance, Balakrishnan said ASEAN countries hope to develop a stable and solid relationship of cooperation with China as both sides mark the 30th anniversary of dialogue relations this year.

Singapore supports the acceleration of consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and backs the RCEP agreement taking effect at an early date, Balakrishnan said.