On March 24, Ambassador Cao Zhongming attended the Singapore–Suzhou Cooperation Conference on Openness and Innovation and delivered a speech. Fan Bo, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Secretary of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee, and Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Culture, Community and Youth of Singapore, attended the conference. Counsellor Kang Yiming was also present.

In his speech, Ambassador Cao stated that China will continue to inject greater stability into the world economy through its resilient economic growth, strong capacity for innovation, and firm commitment to openness and cooperation. This will also bring greater development opportunities to ASEAN member states, including Singapore. Suzhou and Singapore enjoy complementary strengths and broad prospects for cooperation. He expressed the hope that both sides will further strengthen the synergy of development strategies, make better use of the Suzhou Industrial Park, expand cooperation in emerging areas, and take practical bilateral collaboration to a new level.