China, Singapore agree to launch new joint project soon

China is willing to provide more opportunities to Singapore and other countries in hopes of promoting the healthy and stable growth of the regional and global economy, Zhang said.

He added that China would like to work with Singapore to discuss the strategic cooperation in the new era and deepen existing cooperation so as to forge ahead bilateral ties of mutual benefit.

For his part, Teo said bilateral cooperation has expanded in terms of range and content in the past 25 years, with the establishment of model projects like the Suzhou Industrial Park and the Tianjin Eco-city.

Singapore is ready to work with China to give full play to the bilateral cooperation mechanisms and explore new areas of cooperation, Teo said, adding that his country will always support the construction and development of the intergovernmental projects.

Also on Tuesday, Zhang and Teo presided over the 17th China-Singapore Joint Steering Council Meeting for the Suzhou Industrial Park and the eighth China-Singapore Joint Steering Council Meeting for the Tianjin Eco-city.

Both sides reviewed the achievements the two projects have scored so far and set up new goals and tasks for the next stage.

They agreed to establish an overseas investment service platform in the Suzhou Industrial Park, and turned the Tianjin Eco- city into an innovation-driven exemplary zone of green development.

After the meetings, the two countries signed four documents of cooperation, including the establishment of a China Cultural Center in Singapore.

As annual meetings of the three vice-premier-level mechanisms, all the talks are held in China and Singapore alternately. The meetings were held in Suzhou last year.

China is now Singapore's No 1 trading partner while Singapore is China's largest investment source.

Statistics from the International Enterprise Singapore show that two-way trade between China and Singapore grew to $95.8 billion in 2014, up from $2.8 billion in 1990.