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SINGAPORE will get a little help on hosting the 2010 Youth Olympic Games from a friend who knows all about the preparations needed for major sporting events.
Foreign Minister George Yeo revealed on Thursday that Beijing, host of the Olympic Games in August, has offered to assist Singapore.
He said that Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Zhang Xiaokang wrote to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 'immediately' after Singapore won the bid to host the inaugural Youth Olympics last week.
'We are touched by their gesture. We will certainly take up their offer for there is much we can learn from China's own experience,' said Mr Yeo.
He highlighted this collaboration as just one of many between the two countries, adding that that bilateral relations have gone beyond economic projects and have become 'multi-layered and multi-faceted.'
Thousands of Singaporeans work in China, while tens of thousands of Chinese work, live and study here. Also, more than 2,500 Chinese companies are operating here. 'And each time I checked, the number is higher,' he said.
He was responding to Dr Ong Chit Chung (Jurong GRC) and Ms Indranee Rajah (Tanjong Pagar GRC), who underlined the importance of good relations with China.
Mr Yeo said that relations with China have become 'much deeper and broader than the past, with the bilateral Joint Steering Committee now covering a wide range of subjects.'
The close ties were clear in the 'very successful' visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao here last November.
During the visit, he signed signed an agreement with Mr Lee for both governments to jointly develop an eco-city in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.
Besides China, he said that Singapore's relations with two other north-east Asian countries - Japan and South Korea - are also in good shape.
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