The Singapore prime minister said he is impressed with China's progress over the last decades.

"We have also been very happy because it has benefited the whole region, that China has been progressive, stable, prospering and cooperating with countries in the region on an equal win-win basis," he said.

He said that Singapore has good economic and political relations with China and that it tries to "exercise a moderating influence" in preventing frictions in the South China Sea from developing into conflagrations.

The prime minister said that Singapore is not a claimant state on the South China Sea and does not take sides in any of the disputes, but that it does have interests as an economy heavily dependent on international trade and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"In the case of the South China Sea, ASEAN has concluded a Declaration of Conduct (of Parties in South China Sea) with China, and we hope we will be able to build on that and develop a Code of Conduct with China so that we can manage the disputes even if we can't resolve them," he said.

Sigh of friendship

Lee will embark on a six-day official visit to China on Sunday at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. He said he wanted to "update himself" after visiting China in 2010 during the Expo in Shanghai.

China is facing domestic challenges that are "not small," but Singapore sees the confidence and the drive and the determination to keep China growing and moving forward and taking its rightful place in the world as a member of the international community, he said.

"I wish China every success, because I believe that it will be good for China, and good for the world," he said.

The Singapore prime minister will meet with Chinese leaders and visit some of the cooperation projects, including the Tianjin Eco-City, a flagship cooperation project built on a land of 30 square kilometers and envisioned to be a socially harmonious, environmentally friendly and resource-conserving city in the eastern coastal city of Tianjin. It is designed to be practical, replicable and scalable. He has also been invited to give a speech at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The cooperation between China and Singapore has expanded beyond the economy to culture, education and many other areas. Many senior Chinese officials have been trained in Singapore in recent years, hoping to learn from the city state's experience in economic development and society management.

Two giant pandas loaned from China will arrive in Singapore on September 6 and stay here for 10 years.

"It is a sign of the friendship between our two countries, and the pandas will be very popular. There is a lot of interest in Singapore in Kai Kai and Jia Jia," Lee said.