PUBLISHED ONMay 25, 2026 1:20 PMBYSean LerSingapore's Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Monday (May 25) met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the second day of his five-day visit to East Asian countries, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea.
Both have been in their respective roles for over a decade. Wang was first appointed to the role in 2013, while Dr Balakrishnan became foreign minister in 2015.
In a social media post on Monday, Dr Balakrishnan shared a video showing the two leaders making their opening remarks, in which Wang said Singapore and China should continue to strengthen the strategic relationship and communication.
"Singapore and China might differ in size, yet we remain steady in our resolve to confront turbulence and volatility of the prevailing international landscape."
@asiaone Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in Beijing on Monday (May 25). #sgnews #Singapore #China #Trade #Shipping #MiddleEast ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
Dr Balakrishnan, agreeing that the world has seen more turbulence and volatility, added that there have been headwinds against rules-based free trade and the good development of supply chains based on efficiency.
Writing in his post, he pointed out that the longstanding, multifaceted and substantive relationship over the decades has been based on mutual trust and constructive engagement, adding that this has enabled economic, technological and people-to-people ties to flourish.
"Our government-to-government initiatives in Suzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing continue to do well and reflect our mutual support for our respective developmental journeys.
"Our All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership facilitates deepened cooperation in emerging areas, including the green and digital economies and supply chain resilience," Dr Balakrishnan said.
Apart from emphasising the importance of upholding free-trade, rules-based multilateralism and the United Nations Charter, the two leaders also agreed on the need for a ceasefire in the Middle East and the importance of the resumption of maritime flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on Monday that the two leaders also reaffirmed the importance of international law, including the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.
On cross-strait developments, the ministry said Dr Balakrishnan reiterated Singapore's longstanding and consistent One China policy, and is opposed to Taiwan independence and any unilateral moves to change the status quo.
"Singapore will continue to support the peaceful development of cross-strait relations," MFA added in its statement.
Dr Balakrishnan also met with Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Liu Haixing.
They reaffirmed the close friendship between Singapore and China across successive generations of leaders, and welcomed the regular government-to-government, people-to-people and party-to-party exchanges.
"These interactions play an important role in deepening the mutual trust and understanding between both countries," said MFA in its statement.
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