Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing met Suzhou's new party secretary yesterday to discuss ways to deepen cooperation between Singapore and Suzhou beyond the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP).

Mr Lan Shaomin, who was appointed Suzhou party secretary in September, arrived on Sunday for an introductory visit till Thursday, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said.

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

At the meeting, they discussed ways for Singapore and Suzhou to expand areas of cooperation beyond a traditional industrial park towards innovation-driven growth and development of modern services.

They also discussed the opportunities for expanding their contribution to the 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.