China, Singapore sign free trade pact
23/10/2008 15:59
China and Singapore today signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA)
ahead of the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to be held in Beijing on Oct.
24-25.
The signing of the FTA was witnessed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who kicked off his China visit
yesterday afternoon.
Negotiations for the China-Singapore FTA began in
October 2006.
Previous reports said the FTA covers trade in goods, rules of
origin, trade remedies, trade in services, movement of natural persons,
investment, customs procedures, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and
phytosanitary measures and economic cooperation.
Trade between the two
countries reached US$47.15 billion in 2007. Singapore is China's eighth largest
trade partner and the seventh largest investor.
Wen Jiabao said during his
meeting with Lee Hsien Loong prior to the signing of the FTA this morning that
the pact signals a leap forward in the bilateral ties between the two
countries.
He said relations between China and Singapore had always been
friendly, cooperative and creative.
Lee Hsien Loong agreed that the growth of
the bilateral relations between the two sides, especially the FTA, was "a
testimony of the strength of our relationship and reflects our intention to
broaden our exchanges and ties," he said.
He said the ASEM is held during
major development in the financial sector worldwide, and provides "opportunities
to exchange wills in the instable environment."
"It is important for Asian
countries to work together, exchange wills, and maintain the dynamic and stamina
which characterise the past decades of Asia development," he said.
Xinhua
|
