John Lee thanks Singapore's prime minister for support of Hong Kong's participation in RCEP

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday, during his 7-day visit to the three ASEAN countries, and thanked him for backing Hong Kong's admission to the regional trade pact.

The Hong Kong leader met with the Singapore leader this afternoon at the residence of the president of Singapore.

John Lee talked about their meeting in Thailand last year and thanked Lee Hsien Loong for inviting him to Singapore at the Bangkok APEC Summit.

He stated that the visit aims to deepen friendship and strengthen cooperation with Singapore.

The Singapore leader welcomed Lee's visit with his delegation and stressed that it was time to enhance the relations as the pandemic has passed.

John Lee also commented on the years-long intimate trade relationship between Hong Kong and Singapore, with bilateral trade in goods reaching HK$481.5 billion in 2022, which also saw an average yearly increase of 5.9 percent since 2018 despite the effect of the pandemic.

He also thanked Singapore for supporting Hong Kong in joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Lee will travel to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday for the second leg of his ASEAN countries trip.