Both Hong Kong (a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China) and the Republic of Singapore are former British colonies which have maintained trade relations since the 19th century, and have both become important financial centres, maintaining diplomatic missions and trade offices to further their bilateral relations.

Leung Chun Ying and Lee Hsien Loong talked about cooperation and interaction between Hong Kong and Singapore including housing, land use planning and infrastructures.

[7] On June 30, 2015, Amos Yee, a Singaporean blogger, was sentenced to four weeks in jail[8] due to uploading a video criticizing Lee Kuan Yew.

In order to coordinate the signing of the memorandum, the Fringe Club organized the City Festival which was focused on Singapore in 2006.

[12][14] Nine undeclared Terrex belonging to the Singapore Armed Forces, found on a Taiwanese-registered container ship en route from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Singapore after a military training exercise, was seized by Hong Kong customs officials on November 23, 2016, during a routine check in Kwai Chung Cargo Terminal, Hong Kong.

On November 29, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan stressed that “Our relations with China and our interactions with Hong Kong and Taiwan are based strictly on our one-China policy.

We have consistently abided by this policy and understandings reached when we established diplomatic relations with China in 1990, and we will continue to do so.

[16]" In January 2017, the Hong Kong authorities said they had completed their investigations and would release the Terrex vehicles to Singapore.

It was concluded that the Singapore Government could not be held responsible for the breach as it was the consignee of the military vehicles who broke the law.