New era for cooperation between Malaysia, China

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New era for cooperation between Malaysia, China

(People's Daily Online) 10:04, October 12, 2013

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An Economic Cooperation Summit hosted by China Business Council and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 4, 2013. Chinese president Xi and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib attended the forum and made speeches. More than 1000 representatives of politics and business attended the forum. The forum was aimed at guiding future cooperation and accelerating economic exchanges between the two countries.

Furthering cooperation

Mohd Ridzal Sheriff, Deputy Secretary General at Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry said: “This summit is being held to emphasize the friendship between the two countries and also represents a warm welcome to the visit of President Xi. Enterprises in Malaysia which have plans to do business with Chinese counterparts can make the best of this opportunity to enter into direct contact with Chinese companies.”

Malaysian senator Xu Zigen pointed out that 2014 will be the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China. The summit was held as part of the preparations for that anniversary, and to press forward with economic, educational and cultural exchanges.

The president of the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia, Fang Tianxing, considers the five-year-plan for Sino-Malaysia economic cooperation as “the choicest fruit”. He said: “President Xi and Prime Minister Najib have witnessed the signing of a plan which shows the value that China places on the Malaysian market. The leaders have connected the economic development of both countries, and it is believed that many of the projects signed in the forum will be implemented in the near future.”

Strive to reach $160 billion in trade by 2017

Trade between China and Malaysia is currently at its highest ever level. China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner of for four consecutive years, and Malaysia has been China's largest trading partner in ASEAN for five consecutive years. Their bilateral trade volume hit a record of 94.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2012. Malaysia is expected to become the third Asian country whose bilateral trade with China is measured in billions of dollars, surpassed only by Japan and South Korea.

President Xi said at the meeting that Sino-Malaysian trade and economic cooperation has excellent prospects in a wide range of fields, and that bilateral trade is targeted to reach 160 billion U.S. dollars by 2017.

Edited and Translated by Li Xiang, People's Daily Online

Read the Chinese version: 掀起两国经贸合作新高潮, source: People's Daily