DPM Gan to visit China on Dec 15 for top-level bilateral meeting
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will co-chair the 21st Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meeting (JCBC).
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong shakes hands with “Youyou”, a panda-themed bipedal robot from UBTech, during his visit to the Shenzhen firm on Sep 2. (Photo: Ministry of Digital Development and Information)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong will travel to Chongqing on Monday (Dec 15) for the 21st Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting - the apex platform between Singapore and China.
Mr Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, and China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will co-chair the annual meeting, which reviews the substantive collaboration between both sides.
They will also co-chair the 26th Suzhou Industrial Park Joint Steering Council (JSC), the 17th Tianjin Eco-City JSC, and the 9th Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI) JSC meetings.
“The JSCs review the progress made on the three flagship government-to-government projects and discuss ways to further their development,” Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a press statement on Friday.
A key focus for this JCBC is the CCI, which marks its 10th anniversary this year.
“Keeping with its theme of ‘Modern Connectivity and Modern Services’, the CCI has strengthened connectivity between our countries in areas such as financial and digital services, and facilitated broader cooperation between western China and the broader region,” PMO added.
Mr Gan and Mr Ding will visit sites featuring initiatives driven through the CCI, and take part in commemorative activities marking the anniversary.
Related:
The CCI was launched in November 2015 as a key priority demonstration project for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the western region development, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt Strategy.
It remains an important platform that positions Singapore and Chongqing as twin hubs driving deeper and broader region-to-region connectivity between Southeast Asia and western China.
Over the past decade, Singapore’s investments in Chongqing have more than doubled - increasing from US$5.7 billion in 2015 to US$12.7 billion in 2024.
Mr Gan will have a bilateral meeting with Mr Ding, and also meet Chongqing party secretary Yuan Jiajun.
At last year’s JCBC meeting in Singapore, 25 agreements were signed aimed at boosting cooperation in areas like trade, finance and maritime.
This year also marks the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visited China in June, while China’s Premier Li Qiang visited Singapore in October.
This is Mr Gan’s second visit to China this year. In September, he attended commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Beijing, and also visited Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Accompanying Mr Gan on this trip are Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo, Education Minister and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration Desmond Lee, Manpower Minister and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng, as well as senior ministers of state and officials from various ministries and agencies.
