Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has stressed that Singapore and China have enjoyed excellent ties, which are mutually beneficial to both sides.

Lee, who is scheduled to begin his first visit to China next Monday after becoming premier, made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua recently.

Voicing his satisfaction with the relations between the two countries, Lee said that Singapore-China ties are "very good" and the city state is ready to further deepen and broaden such ties.

"Bilateral relations are very good. We have grown them over the years and expanded into more areas, more depth," he said, adding that "our trade is growing rapidly, tourist numbers both ways are growing rapidly."

Since the beginning of this year, he continued, the two-way trade has amounted to around 26 billion US dollars, and it is increasing 25-30 percent per year.

Lee praised the two governments for playing a positive role in fostering the favorable environment and good relations between the two countries, and also working for exchanges between the different levels of governments, not only at the ministers' level but also amongst the officials to understand one another and therefore to be able to see new opportunities.

Lee recalled his visits to China over the years and spoke highly of the changes in China as it is opening up to the outside world.

"The changes have been very rapid. Each subsequent trip I could see the physical developments but most important is the changes in the awareness and the capabilities of the people, " he said, adding that "as it is very impressive. it is changing China and it will change the world."

The Premier gave the nod to the efforts by the Chinese leadership to build a harmonious society, saying that it is completely understandable for China to pay more attention to the more backward regions and adjust the balance between the rich coasts and the poor inland provinces.

"The standards of living have gone up. The country has progress and it has helped China to be able to move forward as a whole country. But now you need to move, a shift to adjust the balance and to pay more attention to the more backward regions, I think that this is completely understandable priority," he said.

Pointing out that the world is now globalized, he said that it is necessary for the world to adjust to China's growth and for China also to make adjustments as it grows and becomes a more important player in the world.

Lee expressed appreciation for China's efforts to forge the friendly and mutual-beneficial relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASIAN), mentioning the establishment of the ASEAN-China free trade area (FTA), which is expected to be created by 2010.

China, which is focusing on the needs of the 10-member ASEAN countries, is making a lot of efforts to develop its relations with the organization, he said, adding that it is going out of its way to show that its growth is positive for ASEAN and in many different fields, it has applied itself, studied how it can be helpful and has suggested ideas, cooperation projects, training schemes, action programs, which will be of tangible help.

Lee also proposed that apart from working with ASEAN as a group, it is also useful to complement it with a China and one ASEAN country approach for better cooperation.

As for the Taiwan issue, Lee reiterated that his country supports the one-China policy and opposes the island's independence from the Chinese mainland.

"I think that our position in the problem is very clear as what we have upheld the one-China policy consistently right from the very beginning and we will continue to do so. We believe that it is the right solution, the right policy, not just for China but it is the right policy for the region, also for Singapore," he said.

"We are against Taiwan's independence. We support the one-China policy. We have made it very clear and we have stated it publicly many times," he added.

Lee will leave here for Beijing next Monday for a seven-day official visit to China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao.

Source: Xinhua