SM Lee to make five-day visit to Guangxi and Shanghai

[NANNING] Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make a five-day visit to China that takes him first to Guangxi in the south and then to Shanghai.

The visit that begins on Monday (May 18) and runs until Friday will build on the “momentum of high-level exchanges” between Singapore and China, and deepen ties with China at the regional level, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement on Sunday.

China was Singapore’s largest merchandise trading partner from 2013 to 2024, with total bilateral trade in 2025 reaching S$162.9 billion. That made up 11.7 per cent of Singapore’s global merchandise trade.

Singapore has also been China’s largest foreign investor in terms of investment flows since 2013.

There are currently three government-to-government projects – the Suzhou Industrial Park which was established in 1994, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin-Eco City that was launched in 2008, and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative which was set up in 2015.

While in Guangxi, SM Lee will meet and be hosted to dinner by Chen Gang, secretary of the Communist Party of China of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee.

SM Lee will also make site visits to better understand Guangxi’s role in advancing Asean-China connectivity as a key gateway linking China with South-east Asia,” the statement said.

SM Lee last visited Guangxi in 2014 to attend the 11th edition of the annual China-Asean Expo, a trade and investment expo promoting exchanges between China and Asean. Singapore was the Country of Honour for that year.

Singapore companies have long established a presence in Guangxi, particularly in the port and logistics sectors.

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Last year, the value of bilateral trade between Singapore and Guangxi reached 13.8 billion yuan (S$2.6 billion). Singapore’s cumulative investments in Guangxi reached US$1.3 billion, with 30 new projects established in 2025 alone.

Later in the week in Shanghai, SM Lee will meet and be hosted to dinner by Gong Zheng, mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. The senior minister will also visit companies to learn about broader technological developments in China.

Last year, bilateral trade between Singapore and Shanghai increased by 17.7 per cent, with exports from Shanghai to Singapore increasing by 29.5 per cent.

SM Lee’s visit to China comes about two months after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong travelled to Hainan to attend the Bo’ao Forum for Asia Annual Conference. Last year, Singapore and China celebrated 35 years of diplomatic relations.

SM Lee will be accompanied by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Manpower Shawn Huang, Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC Wan Rizal and officials from various ministries.

A PMO spokesperson added that SM Lee will also speak at the JPMorgan Global China Summit in Shanghai.

According to a write-up of this summit on the US bank’s website, the May 21-22 event will feature JPMorganChase’s chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon alongside “distinguished business and economic leaders, including innovators in advanced AI and builders of breakthrough brands”.