Visiting Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
expressed admiration for Shanghai's rapid development Saturday
evening at his meeting with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng.
Lee said that Shanghai's rapid development inspired Singapore to
learn more from others in the economic globalization era.
Lee arrived in Shanghai Saturday noon for his two-day visit to
Shanghai and Suzhou, a scenic city in east China's Jiangsu
Province.
Lee told the Shanghai mayor that he has come to know how
Shanghai to deal with problems it encountered in the time full of
challenges.
Han Zheng said that Shanghai also had learned a lot from
Singapore thanks to its special and close ties with Singapore,
adding that Shanghai is China's first city to implement the housing
accumulation fund system which was introduced from Singapore.
Currently, about 5000 Shanghai people are studying or working in
Singapore while enterprises of both sides participate increasingly
more in each other's economic and social development, Han said.
Trade between Shanghai and Singapore reached 3 billion US
dollars in 2003, a sharp rise of 60 percent over the previous
year.
"It is a wonder," Han said, "showing the great cooperative
potential between the two sides."
Lee is on a six-day China visit at the invitation of Chinese
Vice-Premier Wu Yi.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2004)