China's top legislator holds talks with Singapore's parliament speaker

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met with Seah Kian Peng, speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, in Beijing on Friday.

Zhao said the Chinese side is ready to work with the Singaporean side to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries to advance the all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership between China and Singapore.

Noting China is willing to deepen high-level political mutual trust with Singapore, Zhao called on both sides to synergize development strategies, bring into full play the coordinating role of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, expand cooperation in AI, digital economy, clean energy and sci-tech innovation, and pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. He added that the two sides should deepen cooperation in culture, education, media and youth exchanges.

Zhao said China and Singapore should also strengthen coordination and cooperation in international affairs, practice true multilateralism, uphold the multilateral trading system and keep global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded.

The NPC of China is ready to strengthen exchanges with the Parliament of Singapore and deepen the sharing of experience in legislation and oversight, said Zhao, adding China welcomes members of Singapore's parliament to attend the seminar for parliamentarians from ASEAN countries organized by the NPC.

For his part, Seah Kian Peng said Singapore adheres to the one-China policy, while adding that China's 15th Five-Year Plan will bring significant opportunities to Singapore.

In the face of a complex and evolving geopolitical landscape, Singapore is ready to promote deeper ASEAN-China relations, he said, noting also that the Parliament of Singapore hopes to strengthen friendly exchanges with China's NPC.