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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be making an official visit to the People’s Republic of China from Mar. 27 to Apr. 1, 2023 at the invitation of China's Premier Li Qiang, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced on Mar. 26.
This will be his first visit to the country since the Covid-19 pandemic. He last visited China in April 2019 for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
Details of visit
During the visit, PM Lee will first head to Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, then Bo’ao in Hainan Province and finally Beijing.
He will be accompanied by his wife Ho Ching, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung, Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann, as well as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Rahayu Mahzam.
His delegation will also consist of officials from the PMO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Trade and Industry.
In PM Lee’s absence, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will be the Acting Prime Minister on Mar. 27 and Mar. 28.
Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean will take over the role of Acting Prime Minister from Mar. 29 to Apr. 1.
Three stops
1. Guangdong
PM Lee will meet and be hosted to lunch by Huang Kunming, the party secretary of Guangdong.
He will also meet with the Singaporean community in Guangdong.
2. Bo’ao
PM Lee will be attending the Opening Plenary of the Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference. He will also deliver a speech at the event.
He will then attend an official lunch hosted by Li for the foreign leaders attending the BFA Annual Conference and meet with Feng Fei, the party secretary of Hainan.
3. Beijing
PM Lee will meet China's President Xi Jinping, before being hosted to a welcome ceremony and lunch banquet by his counterpart Li.
It will be the first meeting between him and Xi ever since the latter’s reappointment as China’s president.
PM Lee last met with the Chinese president on the sidelines of the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting held in Bangkok in November 2022.
His last meeting with Li was in April 2018 when the latter was still the Shanghai party chief.
During the visit to Beijing, PM Lee will also have meetings with Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Wang Huning, as well as the party secretary of Beijing Municipality Yin Li.
Previous Singapore-China engagements
In an earlier interview with China-based media outlet CCTV-3 broadcasted on Mar. 24, PM Lee remarked that Singapore and China continue to share good relations.
His official trip will come after a visit to Beijing by Vivian in February 2023, during which he met China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang.
In November 2022, China’s vice president -- formerly vice premier -- Han Zheng had also made a trip to Singapore to co-chair the 18th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) with Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.
They signed a "bumper crop" of 19 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during the visit.
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