Singapore`s President Tony Tan Keng Yam (R) meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Singapore on May 29, 2012. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

>SINGAPORE, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called on Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam and discussed bilateral relations with him on Tuesday.

Tan said it is of particularly great importance for Singapore and China to boost their cooperation and exchanges, given the current international economic and financial situation.

The momentum in the development of the bilateral relations is encouraging, with frequent exchanges of visits by the leaders and senior officials of the two nations, Tan said. The cooperation projects are being carried out and the scope of cooperation is constantly expanding.

Tan said he believed that, with common efforts of the two nations, their relations will further thrive. This is in the interest of the two nations and peoples, and it is good for the development and progress of the region, too.

The Chinese foreign minister said that the momentum of the bilateral relations has been sound over the years since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990, with frequent exchanges of high-level visits, ever deepening cooperation in trade and economy, and efficient exchanges in terms of talent and human resources.

China has been drawing on the wealth of the Singapore experience while pushing forward its reform and opening process and modernization efforts, Yang said.

The Chinese economy, with its sustained and steady growth, provided huge space for mutually beneficial cooperation in many different fields, and opened a huge market for Singapore, Yang said.

The foreign minister said that the Chinese government has attached great importance to expanding the friendship and cooperation with Singapore, and that it is willing to work together with Singapore to keep the momentum of high-level exchanges, expand pragmatic cooperation, boost exchanges and coordination, and make common efforts for the development of the two nations as well as the stability and prosperity of Asia.

Yang, who arrived here Monday for a two-day official visit, also met with Singapore`s former President S. R. Nathan and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong respectively on Tuesday. He met with his Singapore counterpart K Shanmugam and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday.

Yang left Singapore for Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on Tuesday afternoon.