On 24 September, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore and Business China co-hosted the Singapore-China Bilateral Relations Forum 2026 under the theme of “Navigating a New World Order: Advancing Singapore–China Cooperation”. Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Cao Zhongming and  Chairman of the Business China Lee Yi Shyan delivered opening remarks respectively. Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun delivered a keynote speech.

Ambassador Cao stated that Chinese modernisation represents a consistent and enduring pursuit forged through successive endeavours across different historical periods, staying true to its original mission while advancing with the times. Leveraging its unique geographical location and mature governance experience, Singapore has blazed a distinctive path of modernisation. China stands ready to work with Singapore to embrace openness and win-win cooperation, further deepen strategic alignment, expand areas of cooperation and innovate cooperation models. Such efforts will help empower the modernisation drives of both countries and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Special Envoy Zhai noted that since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Singapore, political mutual trust has been steadily consolidated, mutually beneficial cooperation has yielded remarkable achievements, people-to-people exchanges have featured unique strengths, and the two sides have jointly upheld fairness and justice. The two countries march hand in hand on the path toward modernisation, underpinned by the strong alignment of their development philosophies, core objectives and development approaches. Special Envoy Zhai also elaborated on China’s policy and position on the Middle East issue and took questions from the audience.

Chairman Lee Yi Shyan reviewed decades of bilateral exchanges between Singapore and China, proposing that the two countries strengthen cooperation in five key areas: talent development, scientific and technological innovation, green transition, addressing population ageing, and regional cooperation.

During the panel discussion, a number of entrepreneurs from China and Singapore conducted in-depth discussions on the theme "Evolution of the International Order and New Horizons for Open Cooperation".

More than 200 participants from all sectors of China and Singapore attended the forum.