Weekend Long Read: How Singapore’s ‘Chief Architect’ Helped Shape Reform in China
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In the hallway leading from the living room to the living area, a smiling bust of Goh Keng Swee stands. Ding Lisong, founder of Guangdong Development Bank, presented this bust personally and in the name of Gu Mu in 1998. Photo: Vickie
(Singapore) — In a quiet corner of Singapore’s eastern coast, an unassuming two-story house could easily be mistaken for any other. Step inside, though, and it unfolds like a miniature China museum. The rooms are filled with ink paintings, porcelain vases, hand-woven carpets, bronze horses and embroidery from every corner of the country — Jiangsu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Guizhou and beyond.
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- Goh Keng Swee, Singapore’s former deputy prime minister, served as an economic adviser to China from 1985-1990, guiding development of coastal economic zones and tourism at Deng Xiaoping’s invitation.
- Goh’s advice—centered on export-oriented growth, attracting foreign capital, and sending students abroad—greatly influenced China’s early reform era.
- Goh never accepted payment for his work and donated his adviser salary to a Chinese school; his legacy is celebrated in both Singapore and China.
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What Happened When
- 1976：
- Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was invited to Beijing and met with Mao Zedong.
- November 1978：
- Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore, including a tour of Jurong with Goh Keng Swee and a ceremonial sea apple tree planting.
- 1979：
- Goh Keng Swee visited China for two weeks at Deng Xiaoping’s invitation, touring factories and meeting with Deng in Beijing, who invited him to advise the State Council after his retirement.
- 1984：
- Goh Keng Swee announced his retirement from Singaporean politics.
- June 1984：
- Goh Keng Swee made a discreet solo trip to Hong Kong to meet business leaders before flying to Beijing for a meeting with Deng Xiaoping.
- December 1984：
- Deng Xiaoping toured China’s first Special Economic Zones (Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Xiamen) and Baoshan Iron and Steel Works, endorsing the SEZ policy.
- May 1985：
- Goh Keng Swee arrived in China as an adviser to lead three teams of Singaporean experts; met with Deng Xiaoping and visited various economic zones.
- After May 1985：
- Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council approved a plan to open 14 coastal port cities to foreign investment.
- Between 1985 and 1990：
- Goh Keng Swee traveled to China twice a year, each trip lasting one or two months, providing reports and policy advice as an economic and tourism adviser.
- 1990：
- China and Singapore officially established diplomatic relations; Goh declined to continue as an economic advisor due to age and health, and reorganized Singapore’s Institute of East Asian Philosophy into the Institute of East Asian Political Economy.
- 1991：
- Goh Keng Swee and Phua Swee Liang married.
- 1992：
- Deng Xiaoping praised Singapore during his Southern Tour, saying China should learn from Singapore’s social order and management.
- May 2010：
- Goh Keng Swee died at the age of 91.
- As of 2025：
- Phua Swee Liang, Goh’s widow, is interviewed reflecting on Goh’s advisory work in China.
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