According to reports, Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated that despite frequently hearing about the challenges China faces, it remains a dynamic economy making continuous progress across many fields. For Singapore, there are still numerous opportunities for long-term mutually beneficial cooperation with China, including in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Lee Hsien Loong summarized his observations during a visit to China while speaking to Singaporean media in Shanghai on May 22. He noted that countries around the world are developing rapidly, particularly China. Reading about developments is one thing, but engaging with people who live there daily, actually use, and experience these technologies is entirely different, he remarked. The takeaway for us is that we must also keep moving forward, learn from and engage with others, while having confidence that if they can achieve it, so can we, Lee Hsien Loong said.

Lee Hsien Loong visited China for five days from May 18 to 22, traveling to Guangxi and Shanghai. This marked his first visit to China in a year and a half in his capacity as Senior Minister and his 16th trip to the country over the past 22 years, continuing the positive momentum of recent high-level exchanges between the two nations.

During his visit to Guangxi, Lee Hsien Loong toured the Beibu Gulf to learn about the latest developments of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor under the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity. In Shanghai, he visited technology projects such as the Shanghai Humanoid Robot Innovation Incubator and engaged with Singaporean enterprises operating in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Lee Hsien Loong revealed that last year, China surpassed the United States for the first time to become the largest source country for fixed asset investment in Singapore. This is a relatively new development for us, and we welcome it, he said. He added that the Chinese market will continue to expand, increasing opportunities for Singapore to invest in China. Simultaneously, there are opportunities for China and Chinese enterprises to invest in Singapore, whether by setting up production facilities, using Singapore as a regional hub, or establishing international business headquarters.