On March 23, 2015, President Xi Jinping sent message of condolences to President Tony Tan Keng Yam of Singapore over the sad news of the death of Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore. On behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his own name, Xi Jinping conveyed deep condolences over the death of Lee Kuan Yew and sincere solicitude to his families.

Xi Jinping expressed in the message of condolences that Mr. Lee Kuan Yew is the founder of the Republic of Singapore and also a strategist and statesman widely respected by the international community. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew is an old friend of the Chinese people, and a founder, pioneer and impeller of China-Singapore relations. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, together with the older generations of the Chinese leadership, charted the course for China-Singapore relations, and made great contributions to the enhancement of friendship between the two peoples and the expansion of bilateral cooperation. The death of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew is a loss of Singaporean people as well as the international community.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the Chinese side attaches great importance to the development of friendly cooperative relations between China and Singapore, and is willing to, together with the Singaporean side, uphold and develop bilateral traditional friendship, and take the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-Singapore diplomatic relationship this year as an opportunity to consolidate good neighborliness and friendship and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to better benefit the two countries and peoples.