Premier Wen Jiabao said in Singapore on Monday that his country will further strengthen trade and investment cooperation with Singapore.

 

The bilateral cooperation is of long-term, full of creativity and with effectiveness, said Wen while meeting with Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

 

The two countries respect each other, and hope to be friends and cooperate on the basis of mutual benefit forever, Wen said.

 

The cooperation between the two countries also yielded both economic and social benefit, which has brought benefits to the two peoples, he added.

 

Goh said Singapore's relations with China are good and the new areas as well as new ways of cooperation will push forward the bilateral ties to a new height.

 

Goh also expressed hope to further develop the cooperation in the project of the Suzhou Industrial Park and do well in building the Eco-City in Tianjin.

 

The Suzhou Industrial Park is a good example of China-Singapore business cooperation. In 2006, the park produced 68 billion RMB of gross domestic product and its total import and export reached 50 billion U.S. dollars.

 

Currently, Singapore is China's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and China is the second largest trading partner of Singapore.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2007)