Malaysia-China agree to foster stronger ties under BRI
13 Jul 2022
MALAYSIA and China agree to foster high-quality Belt and Road cooperation on the Global Development Initiative, says China Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang, who was on an official visit to the country, met with his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah to discuss stronger bilateral ties between both countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“We will leverage the opportunity offered by the 10th anniversary of the Twin Industrial Parks to put in place a pilot zone for innovative economic and trade cooperation and a demonstration zone for production capacity cooperation under the BRI,” he said in a joint press conference with Saifuddin yesterday.
“We will foster new growth points in the digital economy, green development, and other areas so that we can jointly improve our competitiveness and level of development. We also discussed the connection of our blueprint for connectivity. We will redouble our efforts to advance The East Coast Rail Link project and the development of areas along the line. We will stay in communication on the construction of the Singapore-Malaysia Railway,” Wang added.
Noting that, next year will be the 10th anniversary of China and Malaysia’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), and the year after next will see the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, the Chinese minister is pleased that China-Malaysia relations face new and important opportunities for further growth.
“Just now I concluded a productive, friendly and in-depth discussion with the foreign minister. We have reached an important common understanding that we will be guided by the philosophy that ‘the world is a family’ and explore the direction of working toward the building of a community with a shared future,” he said.
“China and Malaysia share similar philosophies, interconnected interests, and unclosed people-to-people and cultural links; our destinies and futures are tied together already. So, to reach that common understanding and explore a community with a shared future will give new substance to the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries in the new era, and it will open up broader and brighter prospects for bilateral cooperation.”
The ministers also talked about the Pan Asia Railway Link (PARL), which is an integrated railway network connecting Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and China.
“We also discussed achieving the long-term objective of having this completion of the central line of the PARL so that, through the connectivity of China, Laos and Thailand railways, we can really achieve connected interconnected development and speed up the process of regional integration. We also agreed on practical measures to deliver real benefits to our two people.”
According to Wang, China is ready to import more palm oil, tropical fruits, and other agricultural products from Malaysia, as well as increase the number of direct flights between the two countries.
“We stand ready to work with Malaysia and other friends in Asean and join hands to deepen strategic mutual trust, enhance strategic coordination and work together with one mind to uphold regional stability and work together with one mind to promote common development so that we can work tirelessly for the well-being of the Chinese and Asean people, and for the peace and prosperity of the world at large,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin said the meeting was fruitful and constructive, and both sides agreed on many things.
“We had a very warm, very frank, and very fruitful discussion, like two brothers talking to each other. We touch on various aspects of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern, as well as intensifying collaboration and cooperation programmes.”
“We look at it as an opportunity for us to work together to provide a more robust, more inclusive global environment, and this can work hand in hand with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 that we have all agreed upon. We also discussed matters pertaining to the BRI,” he said.
Saifuddin also touched on the digital economy, saying that there are plans to increase the amount of investment from China.
“We also welcome more investment from China in the area of the digital economy. I have also impressed upon His Excellency that we take the digital economy at a premium as the way forward to rebuild our economy and also to sustain our future growth.
“And it is very important that we work more closely together between the telecommunication companies and other areas relating to the digital economy. We also discuss other matters pertaining to the relationship between Asean and China as a dialogue partner in terms of how we make the CSP work.”
Source: The Malaysian Reserve
