Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday arrived in the mainland for a six-day trip at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Lee will visit Guangdong, attend the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan and then travel to Beijing, where he is expected to meet President Xi Jinping.

Though this is Lee’s first trip to China since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister had met Xi in November last year in Bangkok on the sidelines of the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

Ahead of his trip, Lee had said relations between Beijing and Singapore are “very good” in an interview with broadcaster CCTV.

Singapore last year warned that its economic growth could slow to a trickle in 2023 owing to weakness in key export markets including the United States, Europe and China. (Additional reporting by AFP)