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SINGAPORE can expect to conclude its free trade agreement (FTA) with China by next year, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.
But both countries would have to work very hard to achieve that target, he added.
When completed, the free trade pact will deepen economic ties between the two countries.
Currently, Singapore is China's seventh largest trading partner, while China is Singapore's third largest partner.
Bilateral trade hit US$40.85 billion (S$62 billion) last year.
Noting that Singapore's FTA negotiations with other countries took about one to two years, Mr Wong said: 'We think one to two years could be a reasonable time(frame) to look at.' He also said the Chinese have a similar timeframe for their FTA talks.
Mr Wong was speaking to reporters after co-chairing a high- level economic meeting with visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi.
Singapore and China have held three rounds of meetings since starting FTA talks last year. A fourth round will take place in September.
Meanwhile, China is urging Singaporeans to seize new opportunities that have opened up in the country, including in the services and energy conservation and environmental protection sectors.
Referring to cooperation in energy conservation and environment protection, Madam Wu said at a lunch yesterday: 'Americans and Japanese have all shown keen interest...I hope visionary business people in Singapore can move first and acquire an early advantage.'
Earlier, she and Mr Wong co- chaired the fourth meeting of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), which sets the agenda for economic cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides agreed that the bilateral FTA should build on the Asean-China FTA that is being negotiated. It would be an 'ACFTA-plus', meaning that it would cover areas not already included in the Asean-China pact.
The Singapore-China pact is also expected to spur the ACFTA process, which began in 2002 and is expected to be completed in 2010, and strengthen Asean-China ties.
Another item high on the JCBC agenda was the eco-city project, mooted by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in April when he met Premier Wen Jiabao.
Mr Wong said that Singapore's Ministry of National Development and China's Ministry of Construction have been tasked to lead discussions for the project.
He said a framework for the project to build a 'socially harmonious, environmentally friendly and resource conserving' city could be ready when Mr Wen visits Singapore in November.
The project will form one of the main pillars of bilateral ties, together with the 13-year-old Suzhou Industrial Park.
The JCBC meeting also discussed other areas of cooperation, including the role Singapore can play to help Chinese firms go global; a new programme to train China's officials in managing industrial parks; participation in China's regional development; and high- tech and tourism cooperation.
Five memoranda of understanding were signed for cooperation in areas such as human resource development, health and environment as well as water resource use.
Madam Wu leaves Singapore today after a four-day visit.
suinoi@sph.com.sg
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