At the invitation of Premier of the State Council Li Qiang, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will pay an official visit to China from June 22 to 26.

CCTV: To follow up on your announcement of Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s upcoming official visit to China, can you brief us on the schedule of the visit? What’s China’s assessment of its current relations with Singapore and what does China expect to achieve through the visit?

Guo Jiakun: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong chose China as the destination of his first trip to a non-ASEAN country after he took office in May, which speaks volumes about the high importance he attaches to developing China-Singapore relations. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Zhao Leji will hold talks and meet with him respectively. The two sides will have in-depth exchanges of views on China-Singapore relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest.

China and Singapore are friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners. Under the strategic guidance of leaders of the two countries, China-Singapore relations have maintained a sound momentum of growth. Our two countries’ leaders in 2023 elevated bilateral relations to an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership, setting the direction for developing China-Singapore relations in the new era. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of this bilateral relationship. China hopes that through the upcoming visit, the two sides will further enhance strategic communication, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and jointly uphold multilateralism and free trade, achieve even more progress in our bilateral ties from a new starting point and make greater contributions to regional and global development and prosperity.

Reuters: European foreign ministers will meet with their Iranian counterpart today while Russia’s President Vladimir Putin yesterday said Moscow would be willing to mediate between Israel and Iran. Who would China like to see lead this effort and will Beijing put forward a proposal?

Guo Jiakun: Since Israel started military strikes on Iran, China has engaged in active diplomacy, including maintaining communication with Iran and Israel and other parties, to seek deescalation as quickly as possible and prevent the region from spiraling into greater turmoil. President Xi Jinping in yesterday’s phone call with President Putin made a four-point proposal regarding the ongoing situation and articulated China’s position.

Military force is not the right way to resolve international disputes and escalation in the region does not serve the common interest of the international community. The biggest imperative is to work together to bring about a ceasefire. China stands ready to continue working with regional countries and the international community to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability in the Middle East at an early date.

Reuters: Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te on Thursday ordered defense and security units to step up their monitoring and intelligence efforts in response to China’s military activities, which he said have not abated even as tensions rise in the Middle East. Do you have any comment on this?

Guo Jiakun: The DPP authorities just won’t pass up any chance of newsjacking. Yet no matter what they say or do, they cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor can they change the inevitability of China’s reunification. To seek independence through military build-up will not succeed.

AFP: A question on Donald Trump. The U.S. President will give ByteDance an additional 90 days to sell TikTok to an American owner. What’s your reaction to this?

Guo Jiakun: On TikTok, China has stated its principled position more than once. We will continue to handle relevant issue in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations.

Beijing Daily: A recent report released by the World Bank shows that China’s economy maintained growth momentum in early 2025, and in response to global trade uncertainty, the government has implemented accommodative monetary and fiscal policies. Recently international institutions, such as J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, have also revised up China’s growth prospects. What is your comment?

Guo Jiakun: China’s economy has forged steadily ahead, achieved high-quality growth and fostered new growth points amid a complex external environment, demonstrating strong resilience and potential. It is now a stabilizer for the world economy and a magnet for sharing development opportunities. In the first five months of this year, China’s total imports and exports of goods increased by 2.5 percent year on year, and the total retail sales of consumer goods went up 5 percent. Shopping in China has become a buzzing trend among foreign travelers. In the first month after the policy of departure tax refunds was rolled out, applications for departure tax refunds across the country surged by 116 percent year on year. Traveling to China visa free is expected to be a popular choice during the summer holiday. Facts have shown that the fundamentals of China’s long-term economic growth remain unchanged, the strengths of our mega-size market and complete industrial system remain unchanged, and our policy of pursuing high-quality development and high-standard opening up remains unchanged. This is the source of the world’s confidence in China’s growth forecast and their determination to invest in China and further explore China’s market. We will remain firmly committed to opening our market wider to the world, foster new driving forces, create new opportunities, and enable the world to benefit from China’s steady growth and draw impetus for common development.

AFP: A Chinese student has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a London court for raping. What’s China’s response?

Guo Jiakun: The Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals overseas to observe local laws and regulations and not to engage in any illegal or criminal activities.

Bloomberg: According to authorities in Taiwan, in the past 24 hours, 46 PLA planes crossed the median line in the Strait. What is China’s reason for these flights? Does it have anything to do with the British and Japanese naval vessels that went through the Strait or with the visit of U.S. congressmen to Taiwan recently?

Guo Jiakun: The Taiwan question bears on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. China respects countries’ lawful right to navigation in relevant waters of the Taiwan Strait, but firmly opposes any country making provocations or threatening China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation.

AFP: So the European Commission has decided to exclude Chinese companies from public tenders for some medical equipment, actually tenders which are over 5 million euros. The EU Commission says it’s a response to Chinese restrictions on European companies in China. I wonder if you have any reaction to this decision.

Guo Jiakun: I’d refer you to competent authorities for specifics. What I would like to point out is that China is committed to high-standard opening-up, upholding the principles of market economy and WTO rules, and solving trade disputes through dialogue and consultation. The EU claims to be one of the most open markets in the world, but in reality has been inching towards protectionism, frequently resorting to unilateral trade tools, and competing unfairly in the name of fair competition. This is typical double standard.

We hope the EU will observe its commitment to an open market and WTO rules, provide Chinese companies with a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment, and work for sound and steady China-EU trade ties. China will firmly safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.

Bloomberg: Just before when you were talking about the economy, you said that China will continue to open up and all nations will be able to benefit from the continued opening up and growth of the Chinese economy. Can you explain to me the method or the means by which other nations will be able to benefit from China’s economy when Chinese imports continue to fall through May?

Guo Jiakun: On anything specific about trade, I’d refer you to competent authorities. Let me stress that China is committed to high-standard opening-up and welcomes more foreign companies to China to supply technologies, products and services that meet the requirements. We firmly support economic globalization and an open world economy. This position has not and will not change.