SINGAPORE – The foreign ministers of Singapore and China reaffirmed their countries’ “longstanding and substantive” ties, and said they were looking forward to fruitful discussions at an upcoming high-level bilateral meeting.

During a phone call on Nov 22, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi said they were looking forward to “fruitful” discussions at the upcoming Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the apex bilateral platform between Singapore and China.

The annual meeting, which will be held in China in 2023, will be co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and China’s Executive Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang.

The two foreign ministers also welcomed the improving flight connectivity between their countries, and said they looked forward to strengthening exchanges between the people of both countries, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on Nov 22.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that Mr Wang had said that China is “ready to work with Singapore to provide more favourable conditions for further resumption of their personnel exchanges, (and) make up for the losses inflicted by the pandemic during the past three years as soon as possible”.

Both foreign ministers also exchanged views on regional and international issues, MFA said in its statement.

Dr Balakrishnan had welcomed the improved tenor of US-China relations, following the meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Nov 15.

Both men also discussed the situation in the Middle East.