President Jiang Zemin said Friday he hopes Sino-Singaporean cooperation will reach a new high in the new century.

In a meeting with Singaporean Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Jiang said relations between China and Singapore are good and that bilateral cooperation in various areas has been fruitful.

Jiang, who is on an inspection tour in Jiangsu Province, welcomed Lee to attend the seventh anniversary of the establishment of the Suzhou Industrial Park, expressing his appreciation of Lee's contribution to the development of the park.

Jiang said that during the past seven years, with the concerted efforts of both sides, the park had learned from the management expertise of Singapore and had made great achievements in its development and in attracting overseas investment.

Jiang said he hopes the two sides will work closely together to make the industrial park even more competitive in international business.

Lee said the Singaporean side expects to strengthen cooperation with China to push forward the development of the park.

He said he has always cared for the development of the park, a joint program between Singapore and China, and hopes it will contribute further to China's modernization.

(China Daily 06/09/2001)