Singapore is ready to expand cooperation with north China's Tianjin Municipality, said visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Tianjin Thursday.

Lee arrived in Tianjin, the second leg of his China tour, on Thursday morning. Lee said in a meeting with Zhang Lichang, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Tianjin Municipal Committee, that since his last visit to Tianjin 20 years ago, the city has witnessed great changes in various fields.

Tianjin has a big potential in development, and Singapore is ready to further step up cooperation with Tianjin, Lee noted.

"Tianjin and Singapore enjoy close cooperation in economy and trade," said Zhang Lichang, also member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, adding that the cooperation between the two sides would witness great potential prospect.

During his stay in Tianjin, Lee attended the signing ceremony of the cooperation memorandum of understanding between Singapore and Tianjin, in a bid to enhance the exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade and investment.

Lee also attended the launching ceremony of the sea water desalination project in Tianjin, the largest one in China invested in by Singapore.

The trade volume between Tianjin and Singapore reached 1.991 billion US dollars in the first nine months this year, up 17.8 percent year-on-year.

Source: Xinhua