SM Lee visiting China to mark Suzhou Industrial Park’s 30th anniversary, meet Xi Jinping

SINGAPORE – Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong is visiting China from Nov 24 to 29 and he will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), a project he helped to steer at its beginning.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Nov 24 said that SM Lee will make a six-day working visit, during which he will make three stops — Suzhou city in Jiangsu province, Beijing, and Shanghai.

While in Beijing, he will call on and be hosted to dinner by Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Previously when Mr Lee visited China as prime minister, it was mostly his counterpart, the Chinese premier, who hosted him for meals.

This is Mr Lee’s first trip to China since he stepped down as prime minister in May. He had visited China 14 times in his two decades as prime minister from 2004.

His father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had also continued visiting China after stepping down as Singapore’s founding prime minister, first in his capacity as senior minister, then later as minister mentor. 

The senior Mr Lee visited China 33 times from 1976 to 2011. In 1994, the then Senior Minister travelled to Beijing to sign an agreement to start a township with industrial, commercial, housing and recreational sectors in Suzhou, a former capital of China.

This set the foundation for the SIP, the first government-to-government project in which Singapore shared its experience in township building and, through the process, deepened its ties with China.

The younger Mr Lee was among the first batch of Singapore officials who was exposed to China by working on the SIP. As Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong became the first co-chair of the Joint Steering Council for SIP in 1994. His Chinese counterpart was then Vice-Premier Li Lanqing. 

As cooperation between both countries deepened, the Joint Steering Council later grew into the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the top-level platform that meets annually to discuss a wide range of collaborations, including the SIP. 

Three decades on, SM Lee will be back in the SIP to participate in commemorative activities for its 30th anniversary, together with Vice-Premier He Lifeng, who will meet and host him to lunch. 

“This is a significant milestone for the first government-to-government project between Singapore and China,” said the PMO.

It also said that SM Lee will speak at a roundtable on “High Quality Development in the SIP”, visit a 30-Year SIP “achievement exhibition”, participate in a tree-planting ceremony, and visit the exhibition centres of new joint projects by Singapore companies in the industrial park.

In Beijing, besides meeting President Xi, SM Lee will also meet Mr Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a top political advisory body. Mr Wang is ranked No. 4 in the power hierarchy of the Chinese Communist Party.

At his last stop in Shanghai, SM Lee will meet and be hosted to lunch by the Shanghai leadership. He will also meet overseas Singaporeans in Shanghai.

Singapore enjoys strong economic ties with Shanghai. The city is a key port of call for Singapore companies, including CapitaLand, Keppel and DBS, that are keen to expand in China. Major Shanghai companies such as China UnionPay and travel company Ctrip have set up operations in Singapore.

SM Lee is accompanied by Mrs Lee, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Education Minister and Minister-in-charge of the SIP Chan Chun Sing.

Also accompanying him are Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann, and Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Culture, Community and Youth Low Yen Ling.

SM Lee’s China visit comes a week after his return from a working visit to Boston and New York in the US, which had earlier this month voted for Republican Donald Trump as president.

Chinese analysts have been busy projecting how to deal with Trump, who has vowed to impose tariffs of up to 60 per cent on Chinese imports and has nominated China hardliners to key positions in his new administration.