Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit Singapore later this month, people familiar with the matter said, in the first trip to the country by China’s No. 2 official in seven years as the governments seek to deepen relations.
Li will visit the city-state to celebrate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties just before attending a gathering of Southeast Asian nations in Malaysia from Oct 26, according to the people, who asked for anonymity discussing private information. The plan is still fluid and subject to change, one of the people said.
China’s and Singapore’s foreign ministries didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
China last sent its second-ranked leader to the Southeast Asian financial hub in 2018, when former Premier Li Keqiang presided over the exchange of agreements covering trade, finance and other areas. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visited Beijing in June and met with Li. It was Wong’s first visit outside Southeast Asia since he took the top job in 2024.
Singapore, with about 75% of citizens ethnically Chinese, has traditionally enjoyed cordial ties with both Beijing and Washington. Yet a growing diaspora of both blue-collar and wealthy mainland Chinese there has led to greater scrutiny of money flows between the two nations.
Li Qiang, who entered office in 2023, is set to meet with regional leaders in Kuala Lumpur after the Singapore leg. US President Donald Trump has yet to officially confirm his attendance at the summit, but is widely expected to visit Malaysia as part of an Asia trip that would also include stops in Japan and South Korea. The two men’s itinerary could overlap in Malaysia, but there’s no announcement of such a plan yet.
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Southeast Asia has emerged as a focus in China’s diplomatic push. Earlier this year, President Xi Jinping visited Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, while Li travelled to Malaysia and Indonesia.
