SINGAPORE - Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing met Suzhou's new Party Secretary on Monday (Dec 2) to discuss ways to deepen cooperation between Singapore and Suzhou beyond the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP).

Mr Lan Shaomin, who was appointed as the Suzhou Party Secretary in September, is in Singapore for an introductory visit from Sunday to Thursday, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Monday.

MTI said that Mr Chan and Mr Lan reaffirmed the "warm and longstanding ties between Singapore and Suzhou".

They also discussed ways for Singapore and Suzhou to expand its areas of cooperation, such as going beyond a traditional industrial park towards innovation-driven growth and development of modern services, going beyond Suzhou to contribute to integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, and exporting the SIP model and projects to third party markets, MTI added.

The SIP, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, is the first government-to-government project between Singapore and China.