SM Lee in China to mark 30 years of Suzhou Industrial Park

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong is visiting China from Nov 24 to 29 and he will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), a project he helped to steer at its beginning.

- Yew Lun Tian

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement issued on Nov 24 that SM Lee is making a six-day official visit, during which he will make three stops - Suzhou city in Jiangsu province, Beijing and Shanghai.

While in Beijing, he will call on and be hosted to dinner by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Previously, when Mr Lee visited China as prime minister, it was mostly his counterpart, the Chinese premier, who hosted him to meals.

This is SM Lee's first trip to China since he stepped down as prime minister in May. He visited China 14 times in his two decades as prime minister from 2004.

His father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had also continued visiting China after stepping down as Singapore's founding prime minister, first in his capacity as senior minister, and later as minister mentor.

The senior Mr Lee visited China 33 times from 1976 to 2011. In 1994, the then Senior Minister travelled to Beijing to sign an agreement to start a township with industrial, commercial, housing and recreational sectors in Suzhou, a former capital of China.