Singapore (Commonwealth Union)_ Singapore is trying to strengthen its relationship with China amid global trade uncertainty, particularly concerning new tariffs from the United States. Accordingly, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is currently in China on a five-day state visit. On Monday, the president of Singapore held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, where both leaders pledged to step up high-level talks and work together across multiple areas, including trade, technology, and legal cooperation. “China and Singapore are good neighbors and important partners,” Li said, marking 35 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations. He lauded the long-standing friendship and the growth in practical cooperation during that time. Li also highlighted that Beijing wants to deepen mutual respect and trust, boost strategic alignment, and build political confidence with Singapore.
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Speaking on Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People, PM Wong echoed the sentiment that the partnership is more important now given current global tensions. Wong noted the increase in protectionist policies, especially tariffs imposed by Washington, and warned that these could hurt smaller, open economies like Singapore. Wong also criticized what he described as the “retreat from multilateralism” and called out US tariff actions as unsustainable. He noted that while the US may believe it pays too much in maintaining the global order, it has long benefited from the international system it helped build. “These unilateral steps risk disrupting global trade and harming countries like ours,” said Wong. He called for reform, not rejection, of the multilateral trade system, asking that it be adjusted to benefit all countries.
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The Singaporean prime minister expressed support for strong regional trade partnerships such as ASEAN, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He also threw Singapore’s support behind China’s bid to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). Additionally, during the visit on June 23, Singapore and China signed four key cooperation agreements. These included a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for joint legal training and a letter of intent to establish a Senior Officials’ Exchange Programme. A second letter of intent covered the development of training programs for officials from ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste. Lastly, a data-exchange agreement was signed to improve intellectual property data sharing and other digital capabilities.
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Furthermore, Li Qiang stated that China will use its bilateral cooperation mechanisms to drive these projects forward. He also highlighted plans to boost bilateral trade and investment and to increase collaboration in third-country markets. China aims to work with Singapore on new initiatives in areas such as the digital economy, green technology, artificial intelligence (AI), smart cities, and ocean energy. Li encouraged expansion of cultural and educational exchanges, tourism, and media cooperation. He expressed that China supports open regionalism and multilateral trade, calling for efforts to stabilize global supply chains. He added that China will work with ASEAN, including Singapore, to finalize the upgraded version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) and ensure high-quality implementation of RCEP to accelerate regional economic integration.
On the other hand, PM Wong reaffirmed Singapore’s desire to maintain close cooperation with China. He expressed interest in continuing joint projects like the Suzhou Industrial Park and exploring collaboration in new fields such as AI, biomedicine, digital, and green economies. He also emphasized Singapore’s commitment to boosting people-to-people and cultural ties and expanding cooperation in third countries. Wong noted that Singapore remains confident in the Chinese economy. He added that Singapore plans to coordinate with China in regional and global forums to protect free trade and the multilateral trading system.
Trade between Singapore and China has always been strong. China has been Singapore’s largest trading partner for 12 years in a row, while Singapore ranks as China’s fifth-largest partner in Southeast Asia. Last year, trade between the two countries hit over US $111 billion, which represented a 2.6% increase from the year before. As the US adds more tariffs, Singapore appears to be recalibrating its strategy. It aims to balance its long-standing ties with the US by leaning more into cooperation with China and other regional partners.
