Xi: Malaysia-China ties built on mutual help and trust

China's President Xi Jinping speaks during the Malaysia-China Economic Summit.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and China's strong bilateral ties were built on mutual help given in difficult times and ever more solid political trust, said China's president Xi Jinping.

Stressing that Malaysia was an important stop on his first state trip to Southeast Asia, he thanked the business communities from both nations who had long been committed to enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation.

"Our two countries have proven to be good neighbours, good friends and good partners who go through thick and thin together," he said in his keynote speech at the Malaysia-China Economic Summit at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here Friday.

Xi added that China would also never forget the strong public support it received from the Malaysian public in the aftermath of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008.

"It touched our hearts. In 2012, a Malaysian student from Tianjin University saved the life of a seven-year-old Chinese boy by donating his own stem cells. These stories give full expression to the profound friendship between our people," he said.

He noted that Malaysia had been the first Asean country to establish diplomatic ties with China, while Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had chosen China as the first country to visit outside of Asean in 2009.

He said the bilateral cooperation over the years had given tangible benefits to the citizens of both nations and pointed to the Qinzhou and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Parks as models for regional investment cooperation.
 
Going forward, he said China would focus on promoting more win-win cooperation and common prosperity, with Asia continuing to be the primary choice for such efforts.

He said that in the next five years, China would markedly increase its outbound investment on a global scale, while over 400 million tourists were expected to go abroad.

"All such economic growth and development in China will create a bigger market and more opportunities for countries in Asia," he said.

He said that China's GDP grew by 7.6% in the first half of this year, adding that it was still one of the highest in the world.

"Although the growth is a little slower than before, it is the result of our positive adjustment. In fact, it is a period we have to go through before achieving growth with higher quality," he said, adding that living standards were still quite low while there were still several institutional barriers to overcome.

Xi, who extended an invitation to Najib to visit him in Beijing next year, said he hoped Malaysia and China would bring its development and growth strategies together to give a further strong boost to their bilateral relations.

He said this was in line with realising Malaysia's Vision 2020 and China's Chinese Dream, and affirmed China's regard of Malaysia as a trustworthy strategic partner.

China has been Malaysia's biggest trading partner for the past four years, while Malaysia is its largest in the 10-member Asean for five years.

Bilateral trade reached US$94.8bil (RM301bil) last year while a freshly-inked five year programme aims to achieve US$160bil (RM508bil) by end of 2017.

(Source: The Star Online)