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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Malaysia has commended China for its commitment to resolve disputes and overlapping territorial claims in the resource-rich and strategic South China Sea through peaceful negotiations.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the pledge by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the ongoing 23rd Asean Summit here not to use force in resolving the matter was welcomed as Kuala Lumpur had always opposed the use of force or threats.
“With China’s commitment, the claimant states should now be committed to resolving matters peacefully through negotiations.
“We need to work on the Code of Conduct as well as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea for an amicable solution,” he told Malaysian media at the end of day one of the summit here yesterday.
Earlier yesterday, the Chinese Prime Minister had told the summit that Asean should not let the question of the South China Sea affect overall China-Asean relations.
China is now Asean’s biggest trading partner with bilateral trade last year amounting to US$400bil (RM1.27 trillion), nearly six times that of 10 years ago.
In the first half of this year, bilateral trade topped US$210bil (RM670bil), an increase of 12% compared to the corresponding period last year.