BEIJING — State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan on April 8 in Beijing.

The two sides should work together against protectionism and maintain the world trading system with the World Trade Organization at the core, Wang said.

He suggested the two countries deepen cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and build three major platforms on interconnection, financial support and tripartite cooperation to inject new impetus to bilateral ties and regional cooperation.

Balakrishnan said Singapore is against protectionism, and hopes the world free trading system is well protected.