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| Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, makes remarks at the opening ceremony of the China-Singapore Forum on Social Management, in Singapore, Sept. 21, 2012 (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) |
SINGAPORE, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- China and Singapore will enhance bilateral cooperation in social management through experience sharing, a senior Chinese official said here on Friday at the opening ceremony of the 2012 China-Singapore Forum on Social Management.
"To strengthen and innovate social management has become a wide consensus of the Chinese society" after years of exploration and practice, Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said in his speech.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all countries' social management considering their different basic national conditions, China and Singapore can still learn from each other, deal together with common issues like aging population, expand collaboration areas and ultimately establish an effective cooperation mechanism on this issue.
"Singapore has not only made world-recognized economic development, but also found a path of social management that is rooted in ancient oriental cultures with the benefits of modern civilization, resulting in an inclusive society with political stability, social harmony and friendly environment," Zhou added.
Zhou, along with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, witnessed the signing ceremony of the exchange of letters to establish an understanding to share experiences in social management between the two countries.
Teo said Singapore and China have shared social challenges like widening income gap, aging population, higher expectation for government services by citizens and mutual understanding amongst diverse population.
He introduced some measures of social management Singapore government has implemented such as Central Provident Fund.
"I am confident that delegates from both Singapore and China will have frank, insightful and mutually rewarding discussion during this inaugural forum," he said.
Zhou is on a two-day visit to Singapore to strengthen bilateral ties between China and the city state. He met Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
According to the Chinese official statistics, bilateral trade between China and Singapore reached 63.48 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. China is now the third largest trading partner of Singapore.
On the other hand, Singapore's accumulated investment in China reached 52.96 billion U.S. dollars last year. Singapore now is China's seventh biggest source of foreign investment. In 2011, China and Singapore each received over one million visitors from the other side.
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