SINGAPORE - Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, who co-chaired three important meetings with Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli on Tuesday (Oct 13), has announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the Republic next month.

Mr Teo revealed the visit in his welcome speech, when he mentioned that following Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam's visit to China in July, Singapore was expecting a visit by Mr Xi in November.

It would be Mr Xi's first visit to Singapore since becoming president of China. He had previously visited Singapore in 2010 as vice-president.

Mr Zhang is on an official visit to Singapore from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of Mr Teo, who hosted a welcome dinner for Mr Zhang tonight.

On Tuesday, Mr Teo and Mr Zhang co-chaired the 12th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the 17th China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) Joint Steering Council and the Eighth Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (SSTEC) Joint Steering Council meetings, according to a joint press statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of National Development.

The JCBC meeting will discuss existing and new areas of bilateral cooperation, including the proposed third government-to-government project in China's western region and the upgrade of the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

The SIP and SSTEC joint steering council meetings will review the progress of these two government-to-government projects and discuss the directions for future development.

Mr Teo and Mr Zhang will jointly witness the signing of several bilateral agreements after the JCBC and joint steering council meetings.

Mr Zhang will call on President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, and meet Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Wednesday.

Mr Zhang will also visit Changi Airport to understand how Singapore has positioned itself as a leading international air hub.