China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng announced the successful conclusion of negotiations for the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA) at the 5th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting in Tianjin, China today.

The CFTA, the first comprehensive bilateral Free Trade Agreement concluded by China with an Asian country, builds on the Asean-China FTA. It is a comprehensive and broad-based agreement covering areas including 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.

The FTA is expected to enhance the two countries' economic relations, by further reducing and removing barriers to trade. This will create opportunities for businesses from both countries to grow their links in each other's markets.

Singapore and China currently enjoy excellent bilateral ties - China, currently Singapore's top investment destination, is Singapore's 3rd largest trading partner while Singapore is China's 8th largest trading partner.

The republic's trade with China rose to a record high of $91.6 billion in 2007.

Singapore and China hope to sign the CSFTA in October 2008, during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to Beijing, in conjunction with the 7th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit.