On the morning of May 14, 2004, President Hu Jintao met at the Great Hall of the People with visiting Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who co-hosted the first meeting of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation together with the Chinese leader.

President Hu said that since the establishment of China-Singapore diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have been developing rapidly. With frequent top-level exchanges of visits, China and Singapore have enhanced mutual understanding and trust. The two sides have witnessed fruitful economic and trade cooperation and productive exchanges and cooperation in other areas. China appreciates Singapore's adherence to the one-China policy and its efforts in actively safeguarding regional peace and stability.

Hu said that one of the key reasons for the significant achievements in China-Singapore cooperation is that both sides uphold the principle of advancing with the pace of the times, tightly seizing opportunities and incorporate them into their respective development strategies. Both sides should stick to and carry on such successful experience. He noted that the official initiation of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation would further promote the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides in various fields. The Chinese side would like to work together with Singapore to seize and take opportunities to continuously upgrade China-Singapore mutually beneficial cooperation to a new and higher level.

Lee thanked President Hu for meeting with him and agreed with Hu's positive remarks on China-Singapore relations. He said that Singapore-China relations have been developing smoothly and the two sides have become each other's important economic and trade cooperation partners. Fruitful results have been scored since the establishment of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park 10 years ago and the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation at the deputy prime-minister level has been successfully initiated. Lee said that he was pleased to see the enormous changes and development China has achieved and Singapore hopes to see China's development, which is conducive to Singapore as well as the common development and prosperity of the region. Lee indicated that the Singaporean government understands and will continue to support the Chinese government's stance on the Taiwan issue.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and some other officials were present during the meeting.