Ties between Hong Kong and Singapore are growing on strong exchanges in trade and tourism, Chief Executive John Lee said on Friday.

Meeting Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, Lee said it was a pleasure to discuss “things of mutual interest”.

The two leaders met last year during the Apec meeting in Lima, Peru.

“Since we met last time, in fact I think ties between the two places have grown even stronger.

"Trade is going very well, and Singapore remains the fourth-largest trading partner of Hong Kong.

“The people-to-people ties are very strong as well… I’m very glad to be seeing a lot of tourists from Singapore.”

Wong, for his part, said he looked forward to having another fruitful conversation on bringing the two cities closer.

“Our two cities share a longstanding relationship, deep bonds of friendship between our people, our business community, and also on an official level – many official exchanges between our two sides,” he said.