IN the pleasant weather of June, His Excellency Li Qiang (pic), Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, made his official visit to Malaysia from the 18th to 20th, in honour of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of China-Malaysia diplomatic relations.
Premier Li had an audience with His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, and met with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for an in-depth exchange of views.
Premier Li and Anwar jointly attended the dinner reception and business luncheon of the 50th anniversary celebrations and attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Gombak Integrated Terminal Station of the East Coast Rail Link project (ECRL).
During this visit, Premier Li and the Chinese delegation members keenly felt the high courtesy and deep meticulousness the Malaysian government offered which was even sweetened by the genuine warmth and sincerity given by the Malaysian people to their Chinese friends.
This visit was concluded with great success, witnessing a new height in our bilateral relations.
As an important achievement, a strategic, forward-looking and detailed “Joint Statement on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership towards China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future” was issued by the two governments on June 20, which is a good reflection of the comprehensive consensus achieved by both sides in many cooperation fields.
China and Malaysia have agreed to forge strategic mutual trust to consolidate the political foundation in building the China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future.
Leaders of both countries have played a pivotal role in steering and upgrading the development of our bilateral relations.
President Xi Jinping visited Malaysia in 2013 which led to the elevation of China-Malaysia relations to the height of comprehensive strategic partnership.
Ten years later, Anwar visited China twice in the same year, reaching an important consensus with President Xi on jointly building the China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future, uplifting the bilateral relations to a historically new height.
Just a few days ago, Premier Li successfully concluded his official visit to Malaysia, marking the highlight of the China-Malaysia 50th anniversary celebration and promoting the development of China-Malaysia relations to a higher level.
China and Malaysia will continue to develop our bilateral relations as a priority in their respective foreign policy.
Both sides will take the 50th anniversary as a good opportunity to accelerate the building of the China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future.
Malaysia highly commends the concepts put forward by President Xi which include building the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Principle of Amity, Sincerity, Mutual Benefit and Inclusiveness in Neighbourhood Diplomacy, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative.
In the same way, China gives full support to the fundamental principles of Malaysia Madani.
Malaysia reiterates its firm commitment to the One China Policy and recognises that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
In order for China to achieve its national reunification, Malaysia will not support any call for the independence of Taiwan.
China and Malaysia have agreed to further synergise development strategies of both countries to inject new impetus into the building of the China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future.
Both sides will continue to further synergise the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Madani Economy Framework”, keep strengthening cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure connectivity between the two countries and continue to work closely to promote key projects such as the ECRL and the “Two Countries, Twin Parks”, so as to bring more benefit to the peoples of both countries.
This visit has seen 14 cooperation documents signed and exchanged between the two governments covering the areas of digital economy, green development, science and technology, etc.
We will take full advantage of these great opportunities to further develop the new quality productive forces and unleash the great potential hidden in emerging industries.
Malaysia welcomes China’s application to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and China appreciates Malaysia providing open and fair opportunities for Chinese enterprises to participate in Malaysia’s 5G network construction.
China welcomes Malaysia to export more high quality agricultural products to China.
When the news “fresh durians can be exported to China” was released, it soon became the glaring headlines in both countries’ major media, bringing great joy to both business and ordinary people of the two countries.
China and Malaysia have agreed to further promote humanity exchanges to consolidate the people-to-people bond underpinning the building of a China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future.
China will extend visa exemption to Malaysian citizens until the end of 2025 and Malaysia will do the same to Chinese citizens until the end of 2026.
China and Malaysia will continue consultation and discussion on mutual visa exemption to further facilitate people-to-people exchange.
Giant pandas are China-Malaysia friendship ambassadors and they are deeply adored and loved by both our peoples.
Now, the two countries have confirmed to conduct a new round of panda protection joint research.
China and Malaysia have agreed to jointly nominate the lion dance to be included in the Unesco Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity to better preserve and shine this common heritage in the new times.
China and Malaysia have also agreed to reinforce coordination in multilateral arena to enrich building the China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future with more international significance.
Malaysia will become Country Coordinator for China-Asean Dialogue Relations this July and assume the Asean chairmanship next year.
China will work together with Malaysia to jointly build a closer China-Asean community with a shared future.
With the South China Sea being our common home, China and Malaysia will launch bilateral dialogue on the management of maritime issues to reinforce maritime cooperation, and at the same time continue to maintain peace, security and stability of the region.
The two sides have also expressed full support to the resumption of political settlement process of the Palestinian question on the basis of the two-state solution, and will jointly promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of this at an early date.
At this new historical starting-point, China and Malaysia will work closely together to progress steadily and fast on the way to modernisation under the guidance of leaders of both countries, and jointly turn the next 50 years into another golden era in China-Malaysia relations history!
The writer is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Malaysia.
