BEIJING - State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Thursday met with Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam, vowing to further strengthen bilateral ties.

Highlighting the good momentum of China-Singapore ties and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, Yang said China would like to boost exchanges with Singapore at all levels.

China will work with Singapore to promote the healthy development of China-ASEAN ties and contribute to regional peace and stability, said Yang.

Singapore is the largest investor in China and China’s second largest trading partner of the ten ASEAN countries.

Shanmugam’s current visit is his third to China in three years as foreign minister.

“I think bilaterally, in economical terms, political terms and people-to-people terms, (the relationship) is very positive, and we believe that a lot more can be done,” Shanmugam told Yang.

He said Singapore is happy to be the largest offshore RMB trading center outside the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties between the two countries. Shanmugam said Singapore is ready to make joint efforts with China to enhance bilateral ties.

As the coordinating country for China-ASEAN relations from 2015, Singapore will exert itself to push forward bilateral cooperation, he said.

Also on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Shanmugam.

The two ministers agreed that the situation in the South China Sea was stable on the whole, and that disputes should be solved by the countries concerned through direct dialogue and consultation, according to a press release issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China and the ASEAN countries have the capability, the confidence and the will to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability in the South China Sea, it said.